Love Story
by recchinon
Summary: She got dumped by her fiancé on their wedding day, that's how she met him.  Inspired by Kimura Takuya's Long Vacation
1. Chapter 1

Disc: I don't own BLEACH and LONG VACATION

Note: this fanfic is inspired from a J-Dorama, Long Vacation starred by Kimura Takuya of SMAP. Enjoy!

_Thought/Past_

Present.

.

*edit: oct 13th , now BETA-ed thanks for the sweetest Nypsy my new beta :D

**-Love Story-**

**1**

_._

"_Would you marry me?"_

"_Of course!"_

_-o-_

She ran as fast as she could. She ignored the fact that people were staring at her, they were surprised and she didn't blame them, she understood very well why they gave her that look. It was about her attire after all. She stopped for a moment and caught her breath. She wanted to rest but she knew she didn't have time. She bit her lower lip as she cheered herself mentally, 'Yosh!', and she started to run again, dragging her extremely long and heavy skirt.

'_Can't stop here… Can't stop here…' _She told herself again and again that she couldn't stop, '_Not now… When finally my dream would come true…'_

She worried about many things as she continued running. She worried that her sweat would smear the makeup, she worried that if she ran too fast she'd fall and ruin the clothes, she worried that the wig would fall. She placed one of her hands on her head to make sure the wig would stay there. That was not easy but she'd never complain. She had no time to complain.

_-0-_

"_Tell me about your dream."_

"_I want to fall in love with a handsome guy, marry him and live happily ever after… Hey... Nii-chan don't laugh!"_

_-o-_

She entered an old apartment building and soon after she found out that there was no lift there, she hurried over to the nearest stairs. _Third floor, _she told herself repeatedly, _third floor._

There she was.

She didn't bother to catch her breath before she started banging on the door madly. She wasn't mad, really, she was just panicked.

_Where is he?_

She banged the door frantically.

_Where is he? Don't tell me that he's still sleeping!_

_-o-_

Someone was banging his front door. He groaned and opened his brown eyes slowly. _What time is it? _He yawned and looked at the digital clock on the table. Nine o'clock in the morning. He cursed sleepily and scowled. He had just been sleeping for three hours and he didn't expect to have any guests today, so why would someone bother to wake him up in such a brutal way? He rubbed the back of his orange head; the person was still banging on his door. He had no choice but to wake up and open the door.

He opened the door for a few seconds only to close it again. He blinked his eyes; he couldn't believe he saw what he'd just seen. He must be dreaming… Really…

She was about to shout, calling his name when suddenly the door was opened from inside revealing a man around her age. The man had a bright orange hair and his face looked tired as if he had just awakened from his sleep. They looked at each other before he suddenly shut the door right in front of her face with a loud BAM.

She was brought back into reality a few seconds later and quickly continued banging on the door. How could anyone do that to her after everything she did to reach this place?

After a few more seconds, finally the door was opened again to reveal the very same man as before. He looked confused and shocked. However this time she wouldn't let him close the door again so before he could close the door or stop her, she went past the man and entered the house. He turned his body to see the woman walk hastily to one of the rooms and open the door. He was speechless and too dumbfounded to stop the woman's invasion.

She found nothing in that room so she walked back to the living room only to find nothing satisfying. She ran to the small kitchen only to run back to the living room when she found nothing even in the kitchen. No one. She found nothing.

Her gray eyes darted around the place but she couldn't find what she came for.

It was frustrating.

She was still searching around the room when the shocked man slowly gained back his ability to think right. It wasn't his fault, really, the woman was just too…weird. She was wearing complete wedding attire, a white traditional kimono complete with its obi and mantle. It was obvious that she had been running in that attire. He raised his left brow when he realized she was also wearing geta. It was…interesting. _How in the hell she could run with those things on her body? _His eyes were on her wig, it was a traditional wig complete with its accessories, the wig had slipped out to one side but she didn't bother to fix it. Her face had been painted white though now the paint must have been less thick due to her sweat. He could see a faint red tint on her cheeks; he realized she got that from running.

Finally he found his voice back. _This wasn't right._

"Who are you?" he didn't want to sound harsh, somehow he didn't want to scare this woman.

She turned her head and looked at him, didn't even bother to answer his question, "Where's Grimmjow?"

Suddenly he had a crazy idea about this situation and he didn't like it. He sighed before answered her question, "He moved out, I…"

"What?" she screamed, shocking the man who could only nod to respond. She looked into his brown eyes, tried to examine whether had he lied or not. When she realized he had told her the truth, the young woman became panicked. "What do you mean by moving out? Where is he? You must be kidding, right? He must be here somewhere! I mean, he couldn't just leave me on our wedding day!"

He opened his mouth to say something but was too shocked to speak.

Once again she moved around to find her fiancé.

"Grimmjow! Where are you? Just come out! I won't get mad about you being late!" Somehow she was pleading and he felt sorry for her, "Just please come out…"

She looked tired and though she didn't cry he knew she could cry anytime soon. He had to do something.

_This isn't right!_

"Errr. I don't know anything about this but Grimmjow did move out almost a week ago."

"He can't just leave me like that! Say…Who are you?" she asked him, as if she just realized that he had been there whole the time. She tilted her head, looking at the orange haired man innocently.

"Well, I am Kurosaki Ichigo, Grimmjow's roommate…" he said that carefully, then waited for a few seconds before he repeated the question he had asked her before, "Who are you?"

She hesitated before she said, "Inoue Orihime. Grimmjow's fiancée." She sighed at the word "fiancée", somehow he understood her feeling. He waited until she continued to speak, "The ceremony already started an hour ago, however Grimmjow's late. I thought he was still in his bed, I knew he was always a sleepy head. So I ran away from the temple when nobody was looking…" she sighed, the information he had just told her was still alien in her brain–she needed to make it sure… "W-what do you mean by moving out?" Before he could answer she said, "Ah, he must have wanted to surprised me! Yes that's it! He is always full of surprises! Right now he must be in the temple already, waiting for me… How stupid I am running all the way here! The new house must be for us to live in! He's always like that! Surprising me like this!"

She was about to leave when he stopped her.

"Sorry, but I know for a fact that Grimmjow was moving outside the country."

Those words stopped her dead in her tracks. She looked terrified. He made her realize the truth she had denied and he couldn't help but feel guilty for this.

For about five minutes both of them didn't move. Tense air surrounded them as he desperately thought of something to do.

"I'll go check his room–who knows maybe Grimmjow left you something. Just wait here, 'kay!"

He dashed to one of two bedrooms she had checked before. His eyes desperately gazed all over the room for something…anything! He checked under the pillow, under the bed, on the desk…and his eyes finally spotted something. It was a letter. He grabbed the letter and quickly left the room.

"Hey, you said you're Inoue Orihime?"

She nodded.

"Then this is for you. It's from Grimmjow…" he hadn't even finished his sentence when she grabbed the envelope and took it away from him.

She stared at it for a few seconds before she suddenly gave it back to him.

"Read it for me, please?"

He nodded but before he managed to take the letter she jerked it back.

"M-maybe I should read it." She said in a trembling voice.

She was about to open the envelope when she frowned and gave it back to him.

"Uh, no... It's better if you read it."

He growled as she once again changed her mind and kept the letter for herself. She mumbled something to herself that sounded like a mantra in his ears but in less than three seconds she changed her mind again and told him to read it for her.

Impatient he quickly grabbed the letter from her before she changed her mind again.

"Ah, wait…" she said nervously, "I need to prepare myself…" She mumbled something to herself again, closed her eyes, and took a deep breath before she finally signaled him to read it. He rolled his eyes before he started to read the letter.

"My dearest Hime,

By the time you read this, I will not be by your side anymore. I am really sorry. I know I owe you a good explanation about this, so here I will explain to you. Around a few months ago I met this girl. I started to hang out with her and before I knew it, I had fallen in love with her."

"I am sorry, my dear Hime, I should have told you about this sooner but every time I looked upon your face and I saw your beautiful smile, I couldn't say it. I could never say it right in front of you, because deep inside I still have this feeling for you. But I have to do this, therefore I wrote this letter."

"I hope you understand how sorry I am, I still love you but this girl needs me. This girl is the type that couldn't live without me while you, my Hime, you are the type who would survive hundreds of years without me. Your smile is your most powerful power, Hime… Believe me you can go on without me. That was why I choose this girl over you."

"Please try to forgive me. I will always remember our happy time together. Take care, my princess…"

"Stop!" she suddenly screamed, "I can't hear more, that's enough!"

"Well, that's all" he said quietly.

She looked at him disbelievingly, "That's all?"

She chewed her lower lip and rubbed under her nose. Somehow he had an impression that she tried so hard not to cry. He tried not to ask but finally he couldn't help himself.

"Are you okay?"

_Stupid question, really…_

She didn't answer.

He sighed, "Miss?"

"I'm not a turtle."

He hadn't expected anything like that.

"Wh-what?"

_How the hell a turtle has something to do with all of this?_

He blinked as the girl looked up at his face.

"I'm not a turtle" she said that again, "He said in that letter that I could survive without him for hundreds of years. Only turtles could live for that long."

He didn't know what to say. This woman was like no one he had ever met. For a moment they let the silence swallow them. Finally after two or three minutes of silence she said something.

"I guess I should be going back…" she inhaled deeply, "I have to inform everyone that the wedding is off… I...I got dumped on my wedding day…"

He tried to read her expression but he couldn't.

She was walking toward the door when he realized something.

"How did you manage to get here?"

She hesitated before she stopped and gave him a side glance.

"I ran" she said it quietly.

_Obviously…_

He swallowed–that was crazy even for someone like him. What happened today was unthinkable.

"How far is the shrine from here?"

She thought for a moment before she answered in a low voice, "I don't know." She said honestly, "It must be around ten or fifteen kilometers…"

He opened his mouth. _This is crazy. _He didn't know how many times he had told himself this but he was sure that was crazy.

"And you ran all that distance? In that attire?"

She nodded. She didn't know where this conversation was going. She nodded once again when he told her to wait. He walked into his room only to come back a moment later. He approached her with some money in his hand.

"Here," he handed some money to her. "Use this to pay a taxi. You can't run back to the shrine with those stuffs."

She looked at the money in her hand before she looked at him again, "Are you sure?"

He nodded.

She licked her lips nervously, "I'll pay you back as soon as possible Kurosagi-san…"

He shook his head, "Nah, you don't have to," he frowned, "And it's Kurosaki by the way…Kurosaki Ichigo."

She laughed bitterly before she gave him a farewell bow and went out the door.

-o-

"_When you decide to marry someone, make sure he will take care of you!"_

"_Of course Nii-chan…"_

But she always fell for the wrong guy.

-o-

**A.N**

Hello, thanks for reading this. I know that maybe some of you wondering why I write this fic when I still have other unfinished projects. I am so sorry, I am just tempted to write this… I will still update my other fics when I have time.

I don't know if I should continue this fic or not, I can just leave it here as a one-shot or I could make it as a multi-chapter fic.. It depends on you.

By the way if you had time, check out my DeviantArt account, I have some IchiHime fanarts there… I also joined an ichihime group there… Be my friend there if you have account there :)

http(:)/recchinon(dot)deviantart(dot)com

Regards,

Recchinon


	2. Chapter 2

Disc: I don't own BLEACH and LONG VACATION

Note: this fanfic is inspired from a J-Dorama, Long Vacation starred by Kimura Takuya of SMAP. Enjoy!

_Thought/Past_

Present.

.

**-Love Story-**

**2.**

.

Everybody had their bad days. He had many bad days in his life and today was probably one of those days.

It had been a long day for the young man. He walked tiredly to his apartment. He really needed some rest. Those kids were like little devils. He hated his job, really, but he needed it to keep him alive. He couldn't find a better job anyway, so even though he wasn't good with kids he had to be patient, at least until he found a more suitable job for him—perhaps with a better payment too.

He let out a tired sigh–today again one of the kids had made fun of the color of his hairs. _Damn those kids._

Money wasn't the only reason for him to work as a piano tutor at that music school. True, the payment he got from teaching there was higher than any other job he could get at the moment, but actually, he took the job because this was the only job he could get that would let him to get his hands on his favorite instrument. Most people wouldn't believe it, but he sure loved piano very much.

He rounded the corner to his apartment building when he heard someone call his name. Well, at least they tried to call his name.

"Kurosagi-kun!"

He scowled. Someone called him in a sing-song voice. He didn't recognize the voice. Besides, people he knew usually didn't call him by his surname and most importantly, his surname wasn't 'Kurosagi'. _Who would have such a suspicious name, anyway?_

He wondered who'd called him while he stopped and turned around to face an empty baseball court near his apartment building. At this hour there were no kids playing there.

He let out a small 'huh' when he saw an unfamiliar girl with long auburn hair that was almost similar to his. The girl was beaming at him. She had a pair of big gray orbs and was wearing a pair of blue hairpins that seemed to contrast with the color of her hair. The girl had a big wide smile plastered on her face.

He admitted that the girl actually looked nice, especially with her tight white t-shirt and knee-length skirt, but he swore he didn't know her. He'd remember someone like her if he'd ever met her even just once.

The girl ran girlishly to approach him with that beautiful smile still plastered on her face. He still tried hard to remember this girl.

"Hello, how are you?" she chirped with her cheerful voice.

Again, he tried so hard but he couldn't remember. Maybe he had heard her voice somewhere but he didn't remember having had ever met her anywhere. The way he looked at her made the girl realized that she had made the man confused. She realized her mistake and giggled.

"Ah, I'm sorry, you don't know who I am right? Well, not your fault, I wore thick make up and a wig that time…" She bowed deeply to express her apologies. He bowed back, but never stopped staring at her. She laughed at her own stupidity and shook her head–"It's me, Inoue Orihime." She ended her short introduction with a smile.

It took almost two seconds before the realization finally hit him. His eyes widened when he realized who the girl in front of him was. She'd expected this kind of reaction from him and she laughed harder when he reacted exactly like how she'd predicted.

She nodded as if she could read his mind. "Yep, I'm the girl that got dumped on her wedding day." He didn't understand how she could be really cheerful talking about that topic. "Now that shouldn't be that hard for you to remember right?"

He just nodded twice.

"Anyway, I've come all this way only to see you. I think it'll be much more appropriate if you invite me to your house." she said, beaming at the taller man. He swore he could go blind if the girl kept beaming at him like that.

He wanted to retort at her, asking who she thought she was, but he couldn't. Instead he just shrugged and motioned for her to follow him. She followed him happily, skipping all the way.

She sat on the sofa in the living room, humming some unknown songs while he went to the kitchen to get some drinks for them. Her gray eyes wandered all around the room and then landed on a baby grand piano on the center of the room. She frowned. She didn't realize it was there the first day she came there. Well, nobody would blame her for that–she was too busy searching for her bastard fiancé at that time.

She smiled at the scowling man when she saw him entering the living room with a tray with two glasses of orange juice for them. She giggled. He could actually just hold the glasses using his bare hands but instead he used the tray.

He put the tray on the table and took his own glass before signaling her to get hers.

She obeyed. "By the way do you play the piano?"

He sat on the other couch and nodded. Her gray eyes widened and she looked so excited, "That's so cool!"

He just smiled and nodded once again without saying anything. Then neither of them said anything. The silence filled the room for a few minutes and made him feel uneasy. He watched the girl drink the juice quietly before he finally decided to say something that had bothered him since the beginning.

"Err," he looked into her eyes. The girl blinked at his stare and then smiled, as if telling him to go on. "So… Why are you here, Inoue-san?"

The girl laughed and waved her hand in front of her face. "Call me Orihime, please…" She sighed, "I might be old but I'm young inside you know…" He didn't know what she meant by 'old' but however, he just nodded, _this girl is weird. _She smiled, satisfied with his response. She then clasped her hands together, "Ah, I forgot, this is the reason why I am here!"

She stood up and walked straight towards him. She then reached out and grabbed something from her pocket which happened to be money. "Here, I owe you the taxi money, right? I came to return the money to you."

He frowned. "You know I told you that you don't have to pay me back, don't you? And especially since you went came all the way here just to pay this amount."

She laughed again and shook her head, " Oh, money is still money, even if it's only a small amount." She flopped herself down on the sofa once again.

He didn't know what to say. He waited for her to say something but she didn't say anything. Once again, they were enveloped by that kind of awkward silence. He didn't like this and decided that he had to say it no matter how rude it might sound.

"Don't you think you should go home now?"

He didn't want to be rude but he knew he couldn't help it. Somehow, this woman freaked him out. However, she didn't look like she'd been offended by his statement. He knew it from the response he got from her: she laughed.

She laughed but she didn't say anything and just sat there.

Once again the silence won.

He was starting to get more impatient. He was about to say something really rude when the girl suddenly opened her mouth, not to laugh or giggle this time.

"Uh, may I live here?"

.


	3. Chapter 3

Disc: I don't own BLEACH and LONG VACATION

Note: this fanfic is inspired from a J-Dorama, Long Vacation starred by Kimura Takuya of SMAP. Enjoy!

_Thought/Past_

Present.

.

This one is for Nypsy

**-Love Story-**

**3**

**.**

"Uh, may I live here?" She said suddenly.

He jumped from his seat and glared at her with a disbelieving look. Did he really hear what he thought he did? She looked back into his eyes. God, she looked serious.

_No, I must have been crazy…_

He moaned and suddenly he felt so tired. He sat back and massaged his temples with one hand. He scowled at her. He needed to confirm this. Maybe she didn't say that. Maybe he heard her wrong, _hey maybe she was asking where the toilet was. _

"E-excuse me?" He cleared his throat. "Once again?"

She pouted. She knew he heard her but however she repeated herself, "Can I live here for a little while?"

That was crazy.

"I'm a man!"

She laughed at that statement and nodded, "Of course we all know that…" Suddenly she frowned, "And so what?"

He shook his head. This girl…. This girl was… he couldn't find the right word for the auburn haired girl who sat in front of him. This was just too crazy. He barely knew this girl and she… what was it again? She wanted to live there with him. He hoped she was joking but when he looked into her eyes he knew that she was serious.

He sighed, "No."

To his shock, she looked at him with a disbelieving look. _Why would she look like she couldn't believe that?_

"What?" She protested with a scowl mirroring his on her pretty face, "Why?"

He opened his mouth to say something but then shook his head, he couldn't believe this girl. "Do you even need me to answer that?" He was frustrated now, it wouldn't be easy to explain it to her. "Listen, I am a man, you are a woman. We don't know each other." He shook his head when he saw her lips were now forming a thin line. "How could you ask me that? I'm sorry but the answer is no." He sounded tired, "Besides, what would your family think? Your friends? And why me?"

_Yes, why me?_

She sighed. She had been practicing before this, in case he'd ask her something like this. Well, she knew he'd say something similar like to this and she was ready with her answer.

"Well, Kurosagi-kun…"

"Kurosaki." He growled. _This is so frustrating!_

"What?"

He sighed, "My name's Kurosaki, Kuro-Saki. I'm not a swindler!" He tried to control himself not to shout at her. He had a feeling that if he shouted at her there was a big chance that she'd cry. The last thing he needed now was a crying woman in his room.

He eyed the woman, expecting her to get offended or get upset. But she didn't, if anything she didn't show him any sign that she was offended by his rude words. Instead, she giggled. _This woman is crazy, _he told himself. _Yeah that must be it._

"Well… Actually, I have no family. Only a relative and she lives with her fiancé." She looked at him with her big eyes. She reminded him of those innocent does if only he didn't know that she wasn't innocent at all. "Just because I ruined my wedding doesn't mean I have to ruin hers too, right?" she said.

He didn't get this woman. She couldn't be serious–why would she blame herself when it was clear that it was that bastard, Grimmjow, who was at fault?

"And my friends…" she bit her lower lip with a light blush on her face. "Well, let's just say that I don't really want to meet them anytime soon. It's not that they'll laugh at me or anything…" she added quickly when he gave her that look. "It's just that I don't want to be pitied… Besides Tatsuki-chan is currently in China and Rukia-chan has just moved in with her boyfriend and I can't always bother them with my problems…"

_And that means you can bother ME with your problems?_

Ichigo wanted to clear the things up when she cut him with another explanation.

"As for money, well… when we got engaged I gave all of my cash to Grimmjow. I gave him all of my money because we needed it to buy a new apartment for us and since we were getting married we opened a new account in the bank and moved all of our balances into this new account." She sighed and looked slightly embarrassed, "I quit my job when he proposed to me because he wanted me to be a housewife… Right now, I have nothing left. The new account was under his name and I don't know where he is right now… I am broke." She rubbed the tip of her nose with her index finger and laughed sheepishly, "I am over the edge. That's why I came here…"

Those beautiful innocent eyes looked into his brown eyes. She waited for his reaction patiently.

Despite the fact that Ichigo was not a warm and friendly person, and that he didn't really like to be around women, somehow he became a little bit concerned about this girl's fate. He wasn't a nice guy but he wasn't a cruel man either. He never met anyone with such bad luck as this girl.

He sighed.

He wondered if she knew he'd do this.

"Okay," he murmured, feeling defeated by those big orbs of hers.

Her face perked up.

A wide smile spread on her face.

"You will let me stay?" She squealed, "Thank you! I can pay half of the rent!"

He nodded his head and stood up to stretch his body. "Well you can have Grimmjow's room. And don't worry about the rent fee, I will pay it fully. You can pay your share when you've found a permanent job. For now, I'll pay for everything."

She smiled oh so beautifully.

He didn't know how he could feel that way about her smile. This wasn't the time to admire her smile. This was serious.

"Don't worry! I'll pay you back once I get some money!"

He wanted to say no to that offer but somehow, he knew that this woman wouldn't accept 'no'. That was just the way she was, he realized.

"So how about your things?" he asked, kneading the back of his neck., "When are you moving?"

She giggled happily and tilted her pointy chin to the window, signaling the orange haired man to look outside his window. He frowned. He got a bad feeling about this. He did as she instructed him and immediately his eyes widened.

"I'll just go and tell them to start moving my things here, alright? They've been waiting all day long in the parking lot" she said as she happily and cheerfully bounced off through the door, leaving the dumbfounded strawberry alone in his room.

Ichigo closed his eyes and he let himself slowly fall onto his couch.

He growled.

_What now?_

-o-

"So you let her move in?"

The orange head nodded his head at his friend and self-proclaimed rival as he leaned over the wall. The other men looked at him with different expressions on their faces. The black haired man with glasses, who had just asked him the question, looked at him as if he was the most idiotic human walking in this world while the other man, a tall man with tanned skin and brown hair, looked at him with a little pitying expression on his poker face.

The dark haired, pale faced man looked amused., "You do realize that perhaps this girl is in a confused state and maybe she doesn't know what she is doing, don't you?"

"Oh, come on, Ishida." He spat, "You think I was that stupid?"

He smirked as if telling him that he did think of him just like that. Ichigo gritted his teeth–he didn't know why he told this man in the first place.

"So, why did you let her in?" This time it was the tallest man who asked him.

"Honestly, it's because I felt guilty."

Both of his friends looked at him.

Ishida furrowed his brows, "And why would you feel that way? You barely know the girl."

Ichigo sighed.

"Well, the actually, it was me who introduced the other girl to Grimmjow. She kept bothering me about him and I didn't know that he was engaged at that moment." He scowled at the thought, "I'd never expected it'd go well either, actually…"

His tall friend didn't make any expression he could read but the skinny pale man snickered. Ichigo glared daggers at the amused man but he just returned the gaze with a smirk.

The tall man rubbed his chin thoughtfully, "Well then you did the right thing to let her in."

Ichigo smiled tiredly, "Thanks, Chad."

"Well, but what you did was really horrible, Kurosaki." Ishida said in a superior tone. "You should have asked the man first about his relationship status before just setting him up with some random girl."

He opened his mouth to shout back at the annoying man when suddenly, someone opened the door without bothering to knock first. Ichigo barely hid his irritation when he turned his back and scowled at the older woman who stood at the door.

"Kurosaki-sensei, your student's here."

He sighed.

He didn't hate his job but lately he just thought that it was just too plain boring.

He nodded at his friends before he walked, following the lady to one of the classrooms. Another boring lesson awaited him.

-o-

**Author's Note:**

I don't know what to say, do you have anything to say? :)


	4. Chapter 4

**Disc:** I don't own BLEACH and LONG VACATION

**Note**: this fanfic is inspired from a J-Dorama, Long Vacation starred by Kimura Takuya of SMAP, enjoy!

_Though/Past_

Present

**-Love Story-**

**4**

"Are you sure you want this table to be in your room?"

A curious raven haired girl frowned at the bubbly girl in front of her. She put her hands on her hips, waiting for the auburn haired girl to answer her question. The table between them was really wide. She couldn't believe that the taller cheerful girl wanted it inside her small bedroom. She couldn't think of where she would put it.

She sighed, "Orihime… If you really put it inside your room, there would be no space for you to walk, let alone to move!"

Orihime laughed, "Of course I am sure, Rukia, this table will be in my room!" She smiled, "I mean, hey… We can't leave it in the living room now can we? Ichigo would kill me!"

"He wouldn't kill you…" Rukia scowled.

Orihime giggled, "He wouldn't," she agreed, "but believe me, he could."

Rukia shook her head in defeat as she continued helping her moving her things into her bedroom.

When Orihime told her that she would be moving into some stranger's apartment, Rukia couldn't believe it. She knew that Orihime was a little bit eccentric but she never thought that she'd go as far as living together with a stranger. Of course she had offered Orihime to stay at her place instead but she declined it. If Tatsuki were in Japan she wouldn't let Orihime to live with a stranger. Heck, if Tatsuki were here she'd have been killing that ungrateful bastard who left her on her wedding day…

Rukia hadn't met this guy yet. Since he was this bastard's roommate, there'd be a chance that he was just another bastard. But he let Orihime in though he hardly knew her. Maybe he was a good guy after all. Wait, a good guy wouldn't let a stranger, a girl in this case, move into his house, would he? Rukia shook all of those thoughts out of her head.

"By the way, Hime, is your roommate hot?"

They were walking back to the living room. They had finished to putting all of her things into her new room, so now they could rest for a while. Rukia sat on the couch while Orihime walked into the kitchen to get some cold drinks for them. Ichigo had permitted her to use and touch everything in his house except for one thing, the baby grand piano.

Orihime came back from the kitchen with two cold Cokes. She gave one can to Rukia and sat next to the petite girl.

"Rukia… You are engaged to Renji-kun now, remember?"

Rukia shrugged–actually she had forgotten that her red haired boyfriend had proposed to her last night. "Well, being engaged doesn't mean I can't adore any handsome guy around, does it?"

Orihime laughed, "Well, I don't know about that but I think maybe he's hot…" She felt she was blushing, she didn't really use the word 'hot' often. "Oh, but he is a really nice guy."

Rukia just nodded, she drank her Coke while thinking. "So… how old is he?"

Orihime frowned, she tapped her index finger on her chin, thinking. "Hmm, maybe younger than me… One year or two years younger… I never asked him" she admitted, " but I know he is younger than me…"

The shorter girl laughed, "Oh it'll be hard then…"

"W-what?"

She smirked, "For you to get him…"

"Rukia!" Orihime blushed. "It will be awkward if you say something like that! I mean, I am living with him now…"

Rukia just laughed. Somehow she got a good feeling about all of this.

"I'm home."

Orihime stood up all of a sudden, she put the Coke on the table and ran to the door to welcome the other resident of the house, "Ah, welcome home! How was your day?"

Rukia snickered hearing her cheerful tone. _Damn, she acts like a cute little wife. _She watched the man remove his shoes and change into slippers.

"It was just like usual, how was yours?"

_Hey, they act like newlyweds!_

It amused Rukia to watch both of them. This strawberry man was not like what she had imagined before. True, he didn't look really friendly but he didn't look like a bad person anyway. Maybe if it was him, Tatsuki wouldn't complain too much. He looked like someone who wouldn't do anything weird to Orihime.

_And even their hair color matches!_

"Oh, I'm done with all the things, so now no boxes in your room!"

He nodded, "Ah, good." He looked around the room and his eyes fell upon the small girl sitting on his sofa. He frowned when the girl just wave at him.

"Ah, she is my friend! Rukia Kuchiki! She helped me moving my things!" Orihime explained.

"Yo." Rukia smirked.

"Rukia, this is Ichigo Kurosaki, you know, my roommate…"

Ichigo just nodded slightly and walked to his room without saying anything anymore. He walked past Rukia without even looking at her. She whistled teasingly when he closed his room door and locked it from inside. Orihime sighed and walked back to the couch to sit next to her best friend.

"How cool…" Rukia teased.

"He is." Orihime laughed.

Her face was red.

Ichigo was really tired when he went home today. Right after he reached his room he fell asleep. He woke up a few hours later and realized that he had missed dinner. He frowned and rubbed the back of his head. He was hungry.

He was just laying on his back for a few seconds. He watched the ceiling trying to collect his energy back.

Someone was knocking on his door.

He walked lazily to the door.

_What does she want now?_

He opened the door, looking at the charming girl with a curious look.

"Yes?"

The girl smiled widely at him—_damn, I could be blinded!—_and showed him a bottle of liquor in her hand. "Let's have a party tonight!"

"Eh?"

"I have many!" she pointed at the table on the living room. There were seven bottles on the table, "Come on… Come on…"

She pulled him to the living room. Ichigo didn't know what made him follow her like that. Maybe it's because he was still sleepy. He let the girl drag him and she made him sit on the couch. Maybe he just couldn't say no to her.

He watched her open one of the bottles skillfully, and wondered if she was old enough for drinking. He would be in trouble if she was still under age.

"Where did you get all this?" he asked in disbelief. He didn't drink often but he knew that these liquors were expensive. _And she said she was broke?_

"They're wedding gifts. Even though the wedding's off they couldn't take the gifts back…" she giggled. Now he remembered she was about to marry Grimmjow–of course she was old enough for drinking. "I think it is rude to send the gifts back, so I just accepted them."

He just nodded, not knowing what to say. Heck, he was never good with words.

"Now let's have a small party!" She laughed. He watched her pouring the liquor into the glasses. "You let me invade your room for a while so now, we have to celebrate it! We have to celebrate all good things, Rangiku-san's philosophy."

Ichigo didn't ask who was Rangiku-san, he just took the glass hesitantly. When he took a sip of the wine, he knew that this was an expensive wine, or so he thought.

"It tastes good right?" she said happily and took a sip herself.

Ichigo nodded and took another sip, "Yeah." He checked the bottle to see the year it was made and frowned, "It's really old…"

Orihime blushed. She smiled shyly, "I know, that's why I told you I was an old lady the first time we met…"

Ichigo furrowed his brows, he didn't mean that way. Besides, why would she keep saying that she was old anyway. "I don't mean you, it's the wine!"

"But it's made on the year I was born…" She giggled, still blushing. She touched her cheek with one hand.

"W-what?"

He pointed at the bottle accusingly, "But THAT was made 27 years ago!"

She nodded, "I am 27 years old."

She said that just like she said, 'Panda is funny.'

No, that wasn't right.

She couldn't be THAT old.

Orihime took a sip from her glass, still smiling shyly. She giggled when she saw Ichigo's current expression. How old was she he thought?

"I thought you were twenty."

She laughed, "Ah… I couldn't be that young!"

"Or even though you are older than me, it couldn't be more than 2 years older…"

"Am I not?"

He didn't say anything.

She bit her lip, "Just… how old are you, Kurosaki-kun?"

"Twenty two."

She bit her tongue, "W-WHAT?"

She thought he was at least twenty five.

"B-but you're Grimmjow's friend!"

He scowled, "So?"

She shook her head.

"Ah forget it!" she said happily. "We're having party… Party!"

Ichigo nodded. He needed a lot of alcohol. He drank all the wine in his glass and let the princess refill it. That was a really good wine. He felt lucky that she was actually willing to share the expensive wine with him.

"Actually, Grimmjow said we would open this on our wedding night…"

Ichigo stiffened when he heard this and he glanced at the girl beside him. Orihime shifted on the sofa as she smiled sadly at her wine, as if she had totally forgot that she was not alone.

"Grimmjow and I met when we were in college. At first, he was like this brotherly figure for me, always there whenever I needed him. Whenever something happened to me, he was always the first one to be there for me.

"Three years ago, I happened to break up with a guy. Not one hour had passed when Grimmjow frantically called me and told me that he had beat up the guy until that guy couldn't even say my name anymore. I never knew how Grimmjow managed to receive the news that fast, but I was so happy, so very, very happy that whenever he called me, I didn't care about anything else in the world.

"But then, as our conversation continued on that night… the clock ticked one second past midnight, and Grimmjow quickly stopped what he was saying and shouted HAPPY BIRTHDAY to me." Orihime chuckled sadly.

"I didn't even realize that that day was my birthday. I remembered holding the phone in shock as I glanced at my calendar. But then again, since the first time I knew Grimmjow, he had always been the first one to congratulate me on my birthday.

"When he asked me to marry him, I thought that it would happen forever. That he would always be the first person to congratulate me on my birthday. Always be the first… forever and ever… _always_…"

A single teardrop sparkled on Orihime's grey eyes as she continued on smiling at her wine.

Ichigo didn't know what to say. He stared at the girl, having this weird feeling inside his heart. And when he saw her teardrop, his eyes stared at her with concern. He had to fight the urge to give the girl a hug. Instead, he just stared at her, not knowing what to do. He didn't hug anybody. That wasn't his style.

Orihime quickly wiped away her tear when the old grandfather clock on the corner made a noise, signaling that it was midnight. She gave a fake laugh as she quickly drank her wine.

"Oh, I'm sooo sorry. I ruined the mood, didn't I? Let's just forget what I said and party tonight!" she shouted happily, _way_ too happily.

Ichigo stared at her.

_Orihime Inoue, you are a strong person…_' was the only thing that entered his mind.

**Author's note:**

So far, I am following the Long Vacation's plot (like 70%) but from next chapter I will go with my original plot ^^ (with some reference from the drama of course)

So... Review?


	5. Chapter 5

Disc: I don't own BLEACH and LONG VACATION

Note: this fanfic is inspired from a J-Dorama, Long Vacation starred by Kimura Takuya of SMAP. Enjoy!

_Thought/Past_

Present.

.

**-Love Story-**

**5**

"Are you okay?"

It was unusual for the dark haired eye-glassed man to ask the strawberry blond whether he was okay or not. Now that he actually asked him, it was because he acted way too weirdly today. First, he was late today. Ichigo Kurosaki was not the most on-time man living on this earth but he had always been on time before. Today, not only had he been late by an hour and fifteen minutes, he also came smelling like alcohol. For the years he'd known this male Kurosaki, he knew that the berry was not quite a drinker. Today he was pale and looked like he was ready to vomit. Plus, he had been zoning out since he came.

The dark haired violinist didn't care about the pianist. No, he didn't care at all. It was just amusing him to see the frowning man in this condition. Ishida Uryuu knew, he could smell it, it must be something related to the girl.

"You are pale." This time it came from the tall half Mexican guitarist. The tanned man stood not too far from the other two. He, just like the glasses guy, realized that there was something off about Ichigo. He kind of worried, though the fact that Ichigo was banging his head on the table was amusing enough for him, about his friend's sanity. He knew Ichigo couldn't drink alcohol, but he never knew that a hangover could make him act this strangely.

Ichigo sighed. He rested his now red forehead on the table. Banging his head on the table wouldn't change anything. It wouldn't even help him to forget about the previous night.

_Last night…_

He groaned and raised his head a little only to bang it once again to the table.

The glassed man furrowed his brow. He readjusted his glasses while sending the tallest man a questioning look. The Mexican just shook his head.

The black haired girl screamed, "W-what?"

She clenched on her phone so tightly that she could possibly break it into pieces if she added just a little more power on her grip.

"You gotta be kidding!"

Rukia Kuchiki had known Orihime Inoue for years now and she could proudly proclaim that maybe after Tatsuki, she would be the closest person to her. She knew almost everything about the girl and she knew very well that she couldn't be joking like that. That wasn't a kind of joke that she would say, hell this wasn't even a joke! This wasn't funny at all. Rukia gritted her teeth, waiting for the girl to continue her story.

She heard Orihime sigh. She could imagine how red she was at the moment and she couldn't help it but to blush when she thought about it. This was a scandal. No, this couldn't be true. The sweet and lovely Orihime...

_Breathe Rukia, this is Orihime–anyway she could have dreamed it and thought that it had really happened._

Rukia heard another heavy sigh, "Say Orihime, tell me once again please?"

She waited for the auburn haired girl to say it again. She closed her eyes to control her emotion. While Tatsuki wasn't there, it was her job to watch over Orihime, but look what had happened: first her fiancé left her on their wedding day and now…

"We did it, Rukia… And no, I am not dreaming."

When Ichigo Kurosaki woke up this morning the first thing he realized was that it wasn't his room. He knew the room but that was not his room. The next thing he realized was even more shocking—he wasn't alone on the bed. There was someone—a girl, yeah—slept next to him. Her back pressed on his naked chest—he realized it later that he, oh no, was naked—so he couldn't see her face. But the long auburn hair was too familiar.

Orihime Inoue was naked and slept on the same bed with him, who was also naked.

It took three seconds for him to realize what had happened.

One…

He had been drinking with her, oh yes they were drinking those expensive liquors.

Two…

He couldn't remember who started it, but he remembered vividly how she sat on his lap and kissed him.

Three…

Then they had…

"Gah!"

As the realization finally hit him, the piano instructor practically jumped off the bed. He landed on a big wooden table, causing a loud cracking sound. He stood up quickly from the table—it wasn't easy to find a place to stand because literally the table had left him no space to stand on the floor—when he realized there was something on the table. Something sticky and wet.

They DID it there too.

Wait, maybe they did it there first before they reached the bed.

The table was so big that maybe he had mistaken it as her bed.

It was…

"Uh, what are you doing in my room?"

His brown eyes met her gray eyes.

She frowned, "And you are naked…"

He gritted his teeth, too late to cover his naked body for now, "Yeah, I am."

She looked at herself and blinked once again, "Me too."

"Yeah you are."

They were staring at each other for few minutes before then she opened her mouth again.

"Did we…"

"Yeah, we did."

He walked out of the building lazily.

He never really like his job before, but this time he just wished that his work would end later, like maybe in another three of four hours more.

He didn't want to go home. He would see her at home and after this morning he didn't know how to face the girl. Last night he'd just discovered a scary fact that she was much older than him and this morning he'd discovered another scary fact that he'd had sex with that older woman.

He was drunk.

He vomited a lot this morning and even now he still felt the effect.

He didn't remember anything about last night. He didn't remember who had started it or how they ended up doing…that. When he left this morning he promised the girl that they would talk about it this evening after he came home from his work. Now he didn't seem too sure whether talking about it was a good idea or not because honestly he didn't want to talk about it. He didn't even want to remember it.

That was his first time.

_Shit._

He wasn't a girl so virginity wasn't a big thing for him. Losing his virginity to such a beautiful and sexy girl like her, he should be happy. He shouldn't act like that was a big thing. Hey, he didn't even really remember it and she didn't look like she was angry with him or anything. Besides, that hadn't been her first time with a man...

..._right?_

What would Sora say if he knew?

Orihime sat groggily on the couch in the living room. She was waiting for Ichigo to come home, he had promised her they would talk about last night once he got home. Not that she really wanted to talk about it. She wanted to talk about it but she didn't know what to talk about.

She pressed her palms on her face. She had been praying in front of her brother's photo today, asking for some forgiveness. She felt like she had betrayed Sora twice. First she chose a wrong man to be her husband and then that she slept with some stranger... Well, not really a stranger but still she shouldn't have done it. He was, for crying out loud, much younger than her!

What would Sora say?

What would Sora do?

Maybe he would force them to get married.

Orihime shook her head, yes she could imagine it.

_I messed up, Niichan... _

Orihime looked at the clock on the wall. He would be home soon. She wasn't ready to talk about it yet. What should she say? 'Hey, let's forget what happened last night okay? That was a mistake!' Oh how she wished she could just say something like that. She couldn't say it. It would be awkward.

_God, help me..._

Orihime shut her eyes. Her face reddened at the memory of what she had done last night. She couldn't remember the whole thing and she was kind of thankful of that, but she could remember some. Like how his fingers... _No, this isn't healthy to keep remembering it! _She scolded herself and slapped her face mentally.

"I'm home."

She stood up quickly and turned to see the man entering the room. She bit her lower lip, feeling really nervous to face him. She smiled nervously and waved her hand at the younger man, "Welcome home!"

He managed to show her half a smile. She could see it on his face, the feeling was mutual. She wasn't the only one feeling nervous.

He walked toward her and put a plastic bag on the table. "You haven't made dinner right? I bought some Chinese food."

"Oh I love Chinese food!" Orihime beamed. She was about to go to the kitchen to get some plates when Ichigo used his hand to signal her to stay.

"Just stay here, I'll get the plates."

She nodded, her face was still red. She watched his back as he was walking to the kitchen. She liked his back, it was so manly. Under those clothes, there were hidden some fine manly muscles...

_Orihime Inoue, you aren't a pervert, _she told herself, _stop imagining him naked!_

Orihime sighed and sat down in front of the table.

The food smelled good.

Right, dinner first and talk later.

Author's Note:

Thanks for my BETA, Nypsy!

This chapter maybe confusing but well, I do have reason (though I still couldn't figure how to explain the reason haha)

Anyway thanks for reading this. ^^

Recchinon


	6. Chapter 6

Disc: I don't own BLEACH and LONG VACATION

Note: this fanfic is inspired from a J-Dorama, Long Vacation starred by Kimura Takuya of SMAP. Enjoy!

_Thought/Past_

Present.

.

**-Love Story-**

**6**

"_Your hair is soooo orange, _Kurosagi_-kun…"_

"_It's Kurosaki!" He frowned, "You're drunk."_

_She laughed, "Oooh, really? How do you know?" She got closer to him and poked his chest with her index finger, "I am not drunk."_

"_Yes you are."_

_She giggled, "How do you know?"_

"_Because now you're licking my neck," he said. "You wouldn't do this unless you were drunk."_

"_Nooo… It's you… You're drunk!"_

"_I'm not!"_

"_But your hand is inside my t-shirt…"_

-o-

She could remember it. Not much but somehow she could remember it. She remembered how his long fingers touched her body and how his lips touched her skin. Oh, she didn't want to remember it, not now when he sat in front of her only a table away from her. She just needed to reach her hand out to grab his t-shirt and…

This was not healthy. They would have to talk after this dinner and all she could do now was imagine him naked on her. _Pervert Hime!_ She scolded herself. She had to see a doctor, she had been a real pervert this whole day, imagining the younger man naked and doing naughty stuff like what they had done last night. She needed to control herself, she shouldn't want him that way. First, she was older than him by five years and second, he was a friend of her ex-fiancé.

She sighed.

She almost forgot about that man.

What was his name again, oh yeah, Grimmjow. It hadn't even been two months since he left her, but it was such a distant memory for her now.

-o-

"_You're so beautiful."_

_She giggled, "You too…"_

_For the first time in his life someone called him beautiful and he didn't know how to react. _

"_Thanks," he mumbled. _

_He pressed his lips to hers once again, he had kissed only one girl before her and that was a long time ago. He had forgotten what it was like to kiss a girl but he decided that he liked it. He was drunk, his body was moving by its own will, but he didn't mind at all. He loved how smooth her skin felt, and the way she moaned his name was just too sexy. He liked it._

_He liked this girl._

"_Kurosagi-kun…"_

_He was too drunk to correct her._

_-o-_

His face reddened and he hoped that she wouldn't recognize it. Even if she did, he hoped that she wouldn't know that he was blushing while thinking about what had happened last night. She had acted casual towards him this evening and he didn't want to make the situation more awkward.

He had tried to eat his dinner as slowly as possible. They had to talk after dinner and for some good reasons, he intended to delay it as long as possible. He wasn't ready to talk about it with her. He didn't know how to start it or what to say. He had thought about it this whole day and still, he couldn't find the right words to say to her.

_Should I apologize?_

He furrowed his brows. It wasn't entirely his fault. If only she hadn't asked him to drink with her this wouldn't have happened. He was never good with alcohol. Oh wait, but she didn't know that he was weak to alcoholic liquor, did she? Well, he didn't have a chance to explain, besides, who knew that the alcohol she chose was so strong?

He looked at the girl silently. She was watching her half empty bowl with a weird face. Her pretty face had a deep scowl on it now, almost similar to his. She was thinking about something and he could guess what it was about.

Last night was a mistake.

He had to make it clear to her that he didn't mean it and it wouldn't happen again. He would try to assure her that he had no such intention toward her. Well, he did like to see her in her nightgown sometimes, but he wouldn't tell her that now, would he?

He wondered if she hated him now. She didn't show anything like hatred toward him but he wondered if deep inside she was upset with him. She had just been dumped by her fiancé and maybe she still had feelings for him.

He hated himself and his male hormones. Even in this kind of situation, he still thought that she was sexy.

-o-

"_We will regret this tomorrow."_

"_Maybe, but I want it now."_

-o-

They had finished their dinner but no one dared to speak.

They had been sitting there for almost an hour now without saying anything. Neither of them knew how to start this conversation. They weren't even sure what this conversation was about.

"A-ano…"

He looked at her, waiting for the next words from her.

She started shyly, "About last night…"

Ichigo's male pride was hurt that it was her who started the talk.

"I know." He cut her off, "I've been thinking about it the whole day."

"Y-you have?"

He nodded, "I think we need to make it clear."

She tilted her head to the left but she didn't say anything waiting for him to continue.

"What happened last night was a…" he gulped, he wanted to say that it was only a mistake but he couldn't say it. It had been so good, too good to only be a mistake. He sighed, "…uh, I mean, we both are grown ups and stuff like this happens so I think… Uh, what I want to say is…" He looked at her and he cursed himself that he couldn't say it properly. "What happened last night shouldn't happen again and let's just forget it."

He waited for her response. He watched her blinking her beautiful eyes thoughtfully. She tapped her long feminine fingers on the table for a few seconds before she nodded her head in agreement.

"I agree, let's forget about it."

To forget it meant to never talk about it again. It was impossible to forget about that night and they both knew it.

-o-

_He touched her cheek gently._

_She looked at him and placed her hand on top of his and smiled._

-o-

"So…" Ichigo tried to start a new topic since he thought they didn't need to talk about last night anymore, and he was glad that it was easier than what he had thought before. "How was your day?"

She couldn't tell him that she called her best friend today and talked for hours about last night. She didn't need to bring up the topic again. "I asked my friend to help me to find a job…"

He sighed. He had thought about this too, "Do you have any job in mind?"

She shrugged, "Anything will do." She smiled brightly at him and chuckled, "Don't worry, I will find a job soon and will pay the rent too…"

That was not what he meant.

He shook his head, "I will try to ask my friends if they can help you to find a job."

Her cheeks reddened at this, she looked embarrassed but she kept smiling. "Ah, you don't have to do that." She added quickly when she saw a frown deepen on his face, "but I will appreciate it!"

He smiled.

_This girl is adorable._

"By the way…" she clasped her hands together, "we have cleared everything up, so now how about if we celebrate it?"

"Huh?"

"I still have some wine and…"

"Are you crazy?"

She pouted, "Why?"

He blushed, "I think we need to establish some rules here!"

"I hate rules." She pouted. The way she said it made her look a lot younger than her age. "Why do we need any rules anyway?"

Ichigo tsk-ed and massaged his temples, why didn't he think about this before? Yes, they need some rules. It would make everything easier for him.

He folded his hands and looked at her seriously, "First, no alcohol in this house."

"But…"

"No buts!" he barked. He tried to ignore the fact that she looked so adorable when she was pouting like that. "You may make your rules too, but first I will say mine!"

Orihime sighed.

He continued, "Second, do not answer the phone, you got it? I have an answering machine and you don't have to answer the phone."

She nodded.

"Third…"

Oh how she hated rules.

-o-

"_I-Ichigo…"_

"_Say my name…"_

"_Ichigo!"_

"_Yes…"_

-o-

"Now," Ichigo furrowed his brows, he had mentioned twenty five rules now. "Do you have any rules?"

Orihime bit her lower lip and closed her eyes. She thought for a moment before opening her eyes and smiled, "Only one."

"Only one?"

"Yes," she nodded. "It's not that hard, I think, but this is important, you know, since we live together for now…" She looked at him waiting for his response.

He nodded, telling her to go on.

"Please don't fall in love with me."

-o-

_She was laying there next to him. Her head was on his chest. There was a smile on her beautiful face. He couldn't see her smile but even in his drunken state he could tell that she was smiling. His head was dizzy and he was so tired and sleepy._

_She was snoring softly as if informing the younger man that she was sleeping._

_He smiled thinking that she was so cute._

_Maybe they wouldn't remember it in the morning but he felt so happy right now._

"_You know…" he mumbled sleepily, "maybe… I could fall in love with you…"_

_He heard a sigh from the girl._

"_Mmm…" she said sleepily, "me too."_

_He grinned widely._

-o-

They looked at each other.

He tried not to let her read his expression.

She waited for his answer patiently.

"Ok," he said calmly, "I will not fall for you."

She smiled.

Under the table, he crossed his fingers.

:

:

author's note:

^^ I hope you like this chapter... I will be busy this December with some projects so I dont think I can update any of my stories this December... But let's see later.

Thanks for reading.


	7. Chapter 7

Disc: I don't own BLEACH and LONG VACATION

Note: this fanfic is inspired from a J-Dorama, Long Vacation starred by Kimura Takuya of SMAP. Enjoy!

_Thought/Past_

Present.

.

**-Love Story-**

**7**

If you asked her whether she'd loved her ex-fiancé or not, she would have answered 'yes' but if you asked her again now whether she was sure about that or not, you would have to wait for a few minutes before she muttered an unsure 'maybe?'

Orihime Inoue's dream was to fall in love and to be married to the man she loved but unfortunately, all of her love stories ended up miserably. Before what happened with Grimmjow, the worst thing was when she found out that her then-boyfriend kissed another man. Now she couldn't decide which one was worse, to find that your boyfriend is gay or to be dumped on your wedding day.

She had been in love so many times and had her heart broken each time.

This time, when Grimmjow had left her, it hurt her so much. Not that she loved him that much… No, she loved him, just maybe not as much as what people thought. It was more because she had been so close to her dream—but she lost it in the last minute.

If only her brother was still alive, he might have been laughing.

Grimmjow was a perfect boyfriend for her. She believed he would make the best husband for her. He was handsome and though he was kind of rough, she knew he cared about her. She loved him and she knew, somehow, that he loved her too—but maybe that wasn't enough for them to be together.

She was sad, but she wouldn't blame Grimmjow. At first, she was angry and furious, she was disappointed, but now she could accept it. Maybe she wasn't good enough for him. Maybe he didn't love her that much. If she thought about it once again, maybe it was better that the wedding was off. She wouldn't marry someone who didn't love her with all his heart.

Orihime had had a lot of love stories before this. She had several unrequited loves too. Every time she had been in love, she would think to marry that person. For her, to fall in love with someone meant she had to marry him. She was obsessed with marriage. When she was ten she told her brother that she would get married when she was sixteen. Three years later, she realized that it was impossible, so she decided to get married when she was twenty. When she was nineteen, she didn't have any potential boyfriend, so she had to change her plan—she would get married when she was twenty five. Now, she was twenty seven and she had almost gotten married. Almost was the magic word. She wasn't sure now when would she get married. She wasn't sure if she could get married at all.

She had been in love many times, but each time she would fall for the wrong person. Again and again she would fall and fall, sometimes it became unbearable for her. Maybe if she wrote a book about her love stories, it would be a best seller.

Until a few days ago, she believed that she would die as a virgin. She would never feel a man's touch. She had been a little sorry for always rejecting Grimmjow when he tried to touch her. Maybe it was one of the reasons why he left her. Maybe she should have let him touch her, that way he wouldn't have chosen that other woman.

Orihime had never had sex before. Not that she was afraid or anything, she just wanted to save it until she got married. She wanted to give her virginity to her future husband only. She had never let any of her boyfriends touch her.

She had no idea that it would feel so great.

-o-

To some people it wouldn't be surprising, but Ichigo Kurosaki had never been in love before. Sure, he had crushes on some female celebrities when he was younger but he had never fallen in love before. He would answer that it was his mother if someone forced him to answer who was his first love. It might be embarrassing, but it would be better than saying that he had never been in love.

His first kiss was…his mother too. His mother used to kiss him on the mouth when he was young. Of course, that was not his real first kiss, but he would rather say that, too, than tell the truth. The first girl who kissed him, besides his family, was a younger girl who lived near his house. She was thirteen and he was fifteen when she stole his first kiss. Yes, his first kiss had been stolen by a girl. She kissed him for a reason unknown to him. He was blank until now about the real reason why she had kissed him. The first girl he kissed was his part-time friend. It was another accident involving some marbles scattered on the floor and a loud "Omph"—yes—that was an accident and he was lucky she didn't slap him. For your information she was a mother of two children. He wouldn't want to remember that.

Ichigo had dated two girls in his life. The first one was when he was five years old and he even promised her that he would marry her one day. Funnily, he didn't even remember her name and face. The second girl he dated was a scary girl from another school. He was sixteen when the girl waited for him in front of the school gate with a determined look on her scary face. She was a leader of a yankee[*] group in the town. She heard that he was good at fighting—plus she liked his hair color—and thought that it would be good to make him her boyfriend. She broke up with him when she learned he played piano—and that his hair color was natural.

His first time having sex... Well as weird as it might sound, he had never had sex before. Not that he was some religious man—or gay, like what his friends and father accused him of—but surprisingly, Ichigo was a romantic man. He never really told anyone, but besides piano he liked one other thing, Shakespeare. Precisely, he adored Romeo and Juliet. He wouldn't let anyone know about this, but he had always thought that sex should only be done with someone you love—who loves you back. It should be romantic. It should be…

Oh well, he wouldn't say that his first sexual encounter was bad, because it wasn't! It was so good and he couldn't forget about it.

He knew that wasn't right—he had sex with a girl who lived with him—who was living under the same roof with him, who didn't love him…

_That's right, she didn't love him. Why would she?_

Ichigo had no love story in his life. He had never fallen in love and he was inexperienced. Now that he was so close to falling in love, he was so scared that he would do something wrong. Something like…

He'd had sex with her just a few days after she got dumped by her fiancé—a few hours after she told him her story with Grimmjow and cried. How more wrong could it be?

No, he had promised her that he wouldn't fall for her—though he didn't really promise with his fingers crossed, but still…

Ichigo sighed. He tapped his fingers on the table. He had just finished teaching his students for today and was in the teacher's room. He didn't want to go home yet.

He looked at the paper on the table and groaned. He had read it more than three times today and he still disliked the last point on the paper. Why would she make that…

"What is it?"

He was trying to hide the paper but the pale man was faster. He growled and slapped his face when the dark haired man read it loudly.

"Wow," he looked amused, "What is it, you made these rules?"

"Only the first twenty five points."

Ishida looked at the paper once again, "But there're twenty six…"

"She only made the last one."

He read the last point and smirked, "Ah, I see… This girl is smart."

"Shut up!" Ichigo tried to get it back but Ishida was faster. Ichigo was frustrated, "Oi, Ishida!"

"You made twenty five useless rules while she made one rule, and that was the vital one…" He was mocking the orange head, "Tell me, Kurosaki, is she your type…"

"Is she my what?" His face was so red now, "Don't be ridiculous! Give me that back!"

"You're so red Kurosaki."

"I'm not! Now give me that back!"

Ichigo was about to jump across the table to get the raven haired man when a familiar feminine voice stopped him from doing so.

"Oh my, Ichigo-kun and Uryuu-kun are so energetic today…"

A beautiful woman with long green hair stood not far from them. She was smiling at them and slowly, she walked toward the two men. The woman brought some books of scores with her. She put the books on the table next to Ichigo's table.

"What was that?" She looked at the paper Ishida held.

"Ah, this is…" Ichigo sent Ishida a warning look, he didn't want everybody here knowing that now he lived with a woman. "Kurosaki showed me a song he wrote."

Ichigo scowled. Well, at least he didn't say it.

The girl beamed at Ichigo, "Really? Waaaah, Ichigo-kun, I'd love to see that too…" she said with a childish tone she often used. "May I?"

"No!" Ichigo said quickly, almost too harshly. When he realized her expression he added quickly, "I mean, wait until I've finished it! Err… It isn't done yet… I will play it for you when I've finished it."

Ichigo maybe missed a hint of pink on her cheeks, but Ishida realized it and mentally slapped the berry for giving the girl false hope. He crossed his hands on his chest, waiting for the next scene. He had known for some time now that the female pianist had a crush on the idiot orange head. He knew that Ichigo hadn't noticed her feelings, no matter how obvious she had been.

"Really? Lovely!" She chuckled, "I'd love to hear that! Promise you will finish it soon and you'll play it for me?"

He nodded awkwardly, he wasn't really good at lying, "Err… Okay."

Ishida smirked.

This would be interesting to watch.

"Oh by the way Ichigo-kun…"

"Y-yes?"

"Who was answering your phone this morning?"

-o-

"Rukia I think I'm going to die…"

"Huh?"

"I'll die."

"What are you talking about?"

"He will kill me!"

"Who?"

"He told me not to answer the phone!"

"Who's 'he'?"

"Ichigo-kun will kill me…"

"He won't… Hey, what's going on?"

"I answered the phone!"

"Huh? You what?"

"I answered the phone though he'd told me not to!"

"Hey… Please calm down, Hime…"

"His girlfriend was calling and I answered his phone!"

-o-

[*]Yankee: delinquent students (1970s-1990s), they ride motorbike and talk with yakuza's accent. Usually they have unique hair style/color. They dyed their hair with unusual color for Japanese students like white or blonde.

_**Author's note:**_

_I know I said there will be no updates this month but well, I had a fight with my team and we cancelled the projects. Well we 'postponed' them. For a very long time. It means I'll be quite free until Chinese New Year, hah! I've got nothing to do for months… :-S_

_Please lighten my mood by leaving some reviews, and maybe I'll update fast._

_Oh by the way, as some hint, i will tell you that there will be not bad guy/girl in this fic :D, this is a big hint really. :) Because this fic is not angst or anything 'heavy' just enjoy the story without no worry :D  
_

_**Click this?**_

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_V_


	8. Chapter 8

Disc: I don't own BLEACH and LONG VACATION

Note: this fanfic is inspired from a J-Dorama, Long Vacation starred by Kimura Takuya of SMAP. Enjoy!

_Thought/Past_

Present.

dedicated for my awesome BETA, Nypsy. Thanks for Beta-ing this story!

.

**-Love Story-**

**8**

She was not his girlfriend.

She had mistaken Nell as his girlfriend.

He had explained but maybe that was not good enough, well he had never been good at explaining some things. Besides, why should he clarify this? It wasn't like he liked her or anything, right?

Right?

It had been a week since that day by the way, since she had accidentally answered the phone call and now everyone in his workplace knew that he lived with a woman. He had to lie that she was his cousin from his mother's side who'd come from the village and would live with him until she found a better place and a job. Thank God that everybody bought that excuse. He was glad that they had a similar hair color.

It was not that hard to assure Nell that the girl who had answered her call was actually his cousin. The green haired woman could be as naïve as a kid on some points, such that somehow, she resembled Orihime a little bit. Now that he didn't have to worry about gossip around his workplace, there was something else that bothered him.

He didn't understand...

"Give me a reason—what are you guys doing here?"

The girl with auburn hair looked confused, "We are having a _nabe[*] _party…" suddenly she looked self-conscious and became panicked. "Ah...we shouldn't have done it in your living room? We can move to my room if you…"

"It's okay" cut in the pianist. He didn't mean to scare the woman. Actually, that question was for the five other people in the room who didn't even bother to put their chopsticks down as Ichigo asked the question. "Your room is too small for all these people." He deepened his scowl. He watched as those people continued their activity, completely ignoring him.

Ichigo sighed. He didn't know since when and how, but Orihime had become friends with his friends. Maybe it had been since a week ago when his friends forced him to introduce them to his 'cousin' who lived with him. In no time, it was beyond his expectations—Orihime had become friends with Nell, Chad, Keigo, Mizuiro, and even Ishida. Even this evening, these people came to his apartment with nabe ingredients with them, telling him that they had been invited by Orihime for dinner. He couldn't blame her, he knew how friendly the older girl was. He just didn't know since when she had become _mail_ _friends __[*] _with his friends. By the way Keigo called her ("Orihime-chaaaan…") it seemed like they had become pretty close. He wasn't jealous of course.

No.

Even when Ishida cleaned the soybean sauce that smeared under her chin. Or when she laughed at something Mizuiro said…

He wasn't jealous.

"You don't eat?"

Ichigo looked at the green haired girl. The girl smiled at him and offered a bowl to him. He just realized then that he hadn't eaten anything. He muttered a small thank you as he accepted the bowl. He looked at the auburn haired girl out of the corner of his eye, and wondered if she realized that he hadn't eaten anything at all. He felt a little annoyed when he saw the girl was laughing at Keigo's antics. She didn't look at him at all.

_Shit._

_I am not jealous._

-o-

Orihime knew that Nell had a crush on Ichigo. Well that was obvious. She wondered if Ichigo knew about it but he pretended not to know or he didn't know about it at all. It was weird since everybody, even her who had known Nell less than a month, could see that. From the way Ichigo acted and treated the green haired musician, she believed that he didn't know about her feelings. She liked Nell and somehow she wanted to help her to get closer to Ichigo.

Ichigo had been really nice to her, he let her live in his house for free. He didn't get angry with her even though she had broken the rules he made by answering his phone. Ichigo was a really nice person and he was also kind of good looking—though he was scowling too much, but she didn't mind—if only she was a few years younger…

No.

Orihime couldn't fall for Ichigo, he had been so nice to her. If she had feelings for him, it would be awkward for them. Besides, Nell was a perfect match for Ichigo. She was nice, beautiful and she was young. Orihime had never played matchmaker before, but somehow she wanted to try it this time. She knew that Ichigo and Nell would make a good couple.

That was why today, she invited these people to have a nabe party at Ichigo's place. This was something she learned from Rangiku-san. A party would never fail to make two people get closer. She had always been trusting of Rangiku-san. She knew it would work. Now, she was secretly watching Nell offering a bowl of nabe to Ichigo. She was glad that Nell offered the bowl to the strawberry head since he hadn't touched anything at all. She was afraid that he would be starving, but she waited because she wanted to give the chance to Nell.

When he accepted the bowl and muttered a thank you, Orihime quickly turned to Keigo. She didn't want him to catch her watching him like that. She smiled at something Keigo said to her but her mind was not there. She wondered if being a matchmaker for the two was a good idea or not.

-o-

She told everybody not to worry about the dishes, she would do that later. Nell had offered to help her but Orihime declined her politely. She told the younger girl that she had extra energy to do that since she had nothing to do the whole day.

Orihime walked them to the front door and told them to come again next time. Keigo was more than happy to tell her that he could come visit her every day. Of course, Ichigo declined the offer with the reason that he didn't want to see the idiot around his house that often.

As they left the apartment building, Keigo wouldn't stop complaining about how lucky Ichigo was that he could live under the same roof with such a beautiful woman like Orihime. For Keigo, life was unfair. All that Ichigo could do was scowl—and play piano—he didn't deserve the goddess.

"Silly Keigo-kun." Nell shook her head, "They are cousins."

"But—but they don't look like each other, are they really cousins?" Mizuiro said, as his hands were busy typing a mail for one of his girlfriends.

"Cousins don't have to look like each other" Nell told him matter of factly.

Ishida smirked. He and the half Mexican guy knew very well that Orihime was not Ichigo's cousin. She was not even his relative. It would be interesting to see their reaction if only they knew that the woman who lived in Ichigo's house with him was actually just some random girl he barely even knew. Oh yes, that would be entertaining—to see their faces…

"But you could marry your cousin." The tall tanned boy surprised them all by his calm tone, he was not usually interested in a topic like this. "If Ichigo wanted to marry his cousin, the law would accept that."

"B-but, they don't love each other!" Keigo said, with Nell nodding beside him.

"How do you know?" said Mizuiro. Somehow, he managed to follow the conversation though his hands were busy tapping on his mobile's keypad. "Orihime-chan is a beautiful girl, if only I didn't have a fetish for older women, I would go for her. Besides, in my eyes they both looked like newlyweds. Didn't you see when she walked us to the door and he followed her from behind?"

Keigo opened his mouth to say something but nothing came out. Nell also looked like wanted to say something but she couldn't.

Ishida pushed his glasses with one hand to cover his smirk. The reactions on Nell's and Keigo's faces were really entertaining. To spice up the situation, Ishida decided to add some more information.

"By the way, do you know that Orihime-san is five years older than Kurosaki?"

Mizuiro dropped his phone.

-o-

"You don't have to help me, Kurosaki-kun…"

Once the guests had gone home, she called him with that name again. He sighed, he liked it better when she called him Ichigo but he didn't know how to tell her that it was okay to call him by his first name. He decided then to let her call him in whichever way suited her.

"It's okay." Ichigo grunted as he dried the bowl she had just washed. "You should have let them help you."

Orihime smiled, "We can't let the guests do that."

"They're not guests!"

"They're your friends."

"They're…"

"Besides," Orihime cut him off before he could continue, "If you're willing to help, just like now, it becomes our chance to catch up with each other." She looked at him and smiled, "It's a good chance to have a little chat about what has happened today." She added with a cute grin "This way we could be a little closer."

_Don't blush._

_Don't blush._

_She isn't cute._

_She isn't…_

_Oh yes she is._

"To...to be closer?"

Orihime coughed, her face was reddened to her ears, she didn't mean it that way. "I mean, now that we are 'cousins'…" she giggled, "…we need to know more about each other right? You wouldn't want us to give different answers when someone asks us about something, right?"

He nodded absentmindedly. He wasn't focusing on what she was trying to say. He was thinking about her previous words. To be closer…

Not that he didn't want it.

-o-

[*]Nabe: Vegetable stew/hot pot

Mail friends: Japanese term for when you talk to someone only via mobile mail and become friends without actually hanging out together.

_**Author's note:**_

I am trying my best to update all of my fics this week. I have many ideas for new fics but I reminded myself to focus on my current stories first. Actually, I'm kind of tired of writing and after I've finished Even Now, Love Story and My Girl, I planned to rest. Maybe only do some oneshots... Just a plan though.

.Recchinon


	9. Chapter 9

Disc: I don't own BLEACH and LONG VACATION

Note: this fanfic is inspired from a J-Dorama, Long Vacation starred by Kimura Takuya of SMAP. Enjoy!

_Thought/Past_

Present.

.

**-Love Story-**

**9**

Orihime Inoue just wanted to buy some cupcakes when she entered the bakery. She didn't expect to meet him there. That was why, when she saw him standing there behind the cashier's machine, she couldn't believe her eyes. It had been so long but she couldn't be wrong. Yes, that was him. Really him.

"Aizen-sensei!"

The brown haired man looked at the cheerful voice calling his name and smiled when he realized who the auburn haired girl was. He recognized her easily, though it had been almost eight years since the last time he saw her. She hadn't changed much.

"Oh, my… Inoue, right?"

She nodded happily and walked closer to the taller man who also looked happy to see her there.

When she had been in her last year in high school, she met Aizen for the first time. He came to temporarily replace their sick biology teacher. He had been so young and handsome. Soon after he introduced himself he became popular amongst the students. He had only taught them for a few months but somehow she had become close to him.

"Sensei… It's been so long!" She beamed at the older man—she still couldn't believe her luck that day to be able to meet him again.

"Don't call me 'Sensei'" Aizen laughed, "I am not teaching anymore."

She giggled and nodded, all of sudden she became seventeen again. "So now you own this bakery?"

He nodded, "Yes, though I usually only work in the kitchen," he sighed. "The girl who used to work here quit last week, now I have to do this too…" He smiled tiredly as he pointed at the cashier's machine.

She clasped her hands together, suddenly she got an idea. "Ah, so you're looking for someone to hire?"

He nodded his head again, "Are you actually interested?"

She nodded her head quickly, "Yes! Yes, oh YES! Sensei, you are my savior!"

Aizen laughed, "You're the savior, Inoue. I'm more than happy to have you here." He smiled teasingly, "Wait until he knows about it…"

"He?" Orihime raised her brows, "Who?"

As if he got the cue, the door behind him which connected the room to the kitchen was suddenly opened to reveal a dark haired man. He wore a rather cute looking apron and kerchief on his head which didn't suit his gloomy pale face at all. His hands held a tray of fresh from the oven melon pans. His green expressionless eyes met her gray eyes.

Aizen used his hand to cover his chuckle, "Ah, talk about timing…"

-o-

"That's not how you play it!"

The white haired boy furrowed his brows. He clenched his fists and turned to face his scowling mentor. He had done this a hundred times today and again he hadn't done it well enough in the eyes of his orange haired mentor. Every time he would tell him that wasn't right and every time he would not explain to him where he made the mistake.

"What's wrong now?" The boy kept his tone low, he wasn't one to lose his temper. He was Toshiro Hitsugaya after all. The genius thirteen year-old boy who won many contests since he was really young.

Ichigo shook his head, "Nah, I've told you that's not how you play it!"

"Then show me how!"

Something ticked in his head, "I'm not the one who needs to be tutored here. Do it yourself, Toshiro!"

The younger boy snapped, he didn't like it when people called his name with no respect. "Don't let me warn you again, it's 'Hitsugaya' to you!"

Ichigo spat, "Nah, cut the crap. Start over from the first movement," he added with an annoying smirk, "_Toshiro-chan._"

"Don't use '-chan' to call me!"

"Oh yeah?" He crossed his arms, "Tell me why?"

"Damn it! Don't be so childish, Kurosaki!" Finally the white haired boy stood up, "I know why you're acting like this! It's because I'm dating your sister right?"

That definitely did the trick.

"SO YOU ARE REALLY DATING KARIN?"

-o-

"Your face is uglier than usual, Kurosaki…"

"Shut up four eyes!"

"Tsk, you should look at your face in the mirror."

"I said shut up!"

"It's about time your sister got a boyfriend, face it!"

"Not another word, Ishida."

"I think Toshiro-kun is a good kid."

"Not you too Chad!"

The glasses musician rolled his eyes as he flopped down to his seat and watched the orange haired pianist press his hands to his face on his seat. Not far from him, their Mexican friend rested his back on the wall behind him as he watched his restless friend without saying anything.

Ichigo groaned, "She is just thirteen!"

"You talk as if she's going to marry…"

"Not a single word from you, Ishida!"

He rolled his eyes once again and muttered something under his breath.

"I can't believe it… So that's why she came here last week! I thought she wanted to see me." He growled, "It was that little punk!"

"You are lucky it's Hitsugaya." Ishida received a glare from the angry man but he didn't look like he cared. "At least, Hitsugaya is a smart kid. He should know that he should wear protect-"

"Waaaaa…" Ichigo pressed his hands onto his ears, his face turned red, "I don't want to hear about it! Stop it! Don't say something scary like that!"

The tallest man in the room couldn't hide his chuckle anymore but he was smart enough not to make any comment. He watched his best friend with his eyes which were hidden under his brown hair. He had known Ichigo long enough to know how protective he could be.

Ishida smirked, "Seriously Ichigo, just because you've never had one, you can't stop your sister from having any sexual experience."

"He has, Ishida." Chad reminded the paler man.

Ishida pushed his glasses up, "He barely even remembers that one."

Ichigo's face turned redder than before for a really different reason now. He didn't remember much of what happened that night with Orihime but that was enough to make him blush. He wouldn't admit it to them or anyone but the faint memory of that night was enough to turn him on.

_No, do not think about her._

_I repeat, stop thinking about her._

"At least he had one." Chad shrugged.

Ishida tried not to laugh. It was not every day you could see Chad join him to tease the orange head. Ichigo just groaned and pressed his hands onto his face.

-o-

_To: Tatsuki arisawa_t mbox. ne. jp_

_From: Orihime orihimejagerjaque yatta. com_

_Subject: I can't believe it._

_Tatsuki-chan, how are you… I am so sorry that I didn't reply to your last e-mail, I've been so busy. I was a jobless person with no money so it was kind of hard lately for me. But don't worry, I got a job now._

_About my new job, guess who's my new boss!_

_Good guess._

_But it's Aizen-sensei by the way. YES, our favorite teacher! Oh he is not a teacher anymore now, so he refused to be called 'Sensei' but old habits die hard you know. He is a manager in a bakery he owns himself. I will work there starting from… tomorrow!_

_Oh you remember I always wanted to work in a bakery, right? It is a dream come true!_

_Ah, I almost forget my main reason to send you this email. Well, Aizen-sensei was not the only person I saw in the bakery. There was someone else there, apparently he works there too._

_Err, Ulquiorra Schiffer works there too._

_What should I do Tatsuki?_

_He didn't say anything but the way he looked at me, I believe he hasn't forgotten about it._

_Now I have to call Rukia to tell her about this. I don't think she will be happy._

_Take care there, okay!_

_With love,_

_Orihime._

_P.S_

_Yes, I know, I need to change my email address._

-o-

After she clicked the 'send' button Orihime let out a heavy breath and threw her back onto her bed. She wondered how Tatsuki reacted regarding this news. Plus, she still had to call Rukia and she was sure Rukia wouldn't be happy to hear this.

_Ulquiorra Schiffer…_

She hadn't even remembered his full name until she saw his face earlier that day but when their eyes met the name appeared just like that in her head. She hadn't really thought about him but it didn't mean she had completely forgotten him.

"How could I forget…"

She took a pillow and hugged it tightly to her chest.

He hadn't changed much from what she remembered. His eyes were still cold like before and his skin was just as pale as she could remember. She giggled when she remembered his look today. She never thought she would see him in such a cute apron and with a kerchief on his head.

"I wonder how Kurosaki-kun would look like with that apron and kerchief."

She imagined it and laughed.

Maybe she could ask him to wear that one day.

-o-

TBC.

**Author's Note:**

Sorry I made you wait for this chapter... Many things happened, personal and plus my laptop broke down...

I will try to finish all of my fanfic ASAP (though it is not that soon since still there're many chapters left for each fic...).

I love IchiHime but I have lost my interest in Bleach... :-/ I do keep checking the new chapters sometime...

I know now how Blitch-sama felt... I mean, Kubo shouldn't drag the story... Plus, the fans shouldn't start the pairing war which also becomes the reason why I felt enough with this fandom. Oh, no... I do love IchiHime though... Just I don't think it's necessary to debate about it. :-/

Kay, hope u like the chapter.

Ciao.

.

xx

Recchinon


	10. Chapter 10

Disc: I don't own BLEACH and LONG VACATION

Note: this fanfic is inspired from a J-Dorama, Long Vacation starred by Kimura Takuya of SMAP. Enjoy!

_Thought/Past_

Present.

.

**-Love Story-**

10 

The young man frowned at the sight of the young woman. He walked faster, passing the electronic gate as the woman recognized him and smiled. The auburn—almost chestnut—haired woman waved her slender hand cheerfully. He didn't return the wave, his eyes were on the two umbrellas on her other hand. Now he knew why she was there. 

He was surprised when he saw her. He didn't expect to see her there. He never thought that his lovely housemate would come to pick him up at the station. He stopped right in front of her, still frowning. She still beamed at him with her beautiful smile. 

"You're waiting for me?"

She nodded, "It's raining though the weather forecaster said it wouldn't. I know you didn't bring your umbrella with you this morning." She showed him the umbrellas in her hand, "Which one do you want to use? Pink? Yellow?"

Ichigo sighed. He preferred a transparent vinyl umbrella for a rainy day like today actually, but he could never deny this girl anyway. He was kind of moved actually. She did not have to pick him up at the station, really, he could just borrow the public umbrella at the station or just bought one at the convenience store nearby. He appreciated the thought, though the colors of the umbrellas were just…

"Well?" she asked again.

He let out another heavy sigh, the choices were hard: pink or yellow.

"Yellow please."

At least yellow would not be as gay as pink.

She nodded happily and handed him the yellow umbrella.

He accepted the umbrella halfheartedly and opened it. He could hear some passerby giggle at him. He really wanted to slap his own face. He never thought that the umbrella would have a pair of ears and tiger face on it. Yes, a tiger—a very cute tiger.

Orihime chuckled at his expression, "It suits you."

This time he really slapped his face.

"Let's go." He grabbed her hands automatically and pulled her to leave the station, barely giving her time to open her own umbrella. He just wanted to leave that place quickly.

They left the station building still holding hands. Ichigo didn't seem to realize it but Orihime just chuckled silently and didn't say anything about it. She actually liked the way his big hand held hers.

His hand was so warm and gave a good feeling to her. She liked it.

He slowed his pace as they walked, leaving the crowded area. They walked slowly side by side, still holding hands. Sometimes their umbrellas would bump into each other, but they did not say anything. Ichigo found it was a little awkward and he needed to say something to break the silence, though a part of him liked the silence. Just walking side by side like this had given him this warm feeling inside his chest.

"Err, well," he wanted to rub his nose but his hands were busy. He couldn't drop the umbrella and he did not want to let her hand go yet, "thanks."

Orihime giggled, "You are welcome."

He licked his lips. He looked at the shorter girl from the corner of his eyes. Lately he was almost sure that he had a crush on this beautiful girl. He just wasn't sure whether he had to show his feelings to her or not. After all, he had promised to her that he would not fall for her. Well, though he had crossed his fingers when he made the promise, he was never the kind of guy who would easily break his promise.

He didn't know what else to say so he said nothing. The sound of the rain made a kind of cute music together with the sound of his heartbeat.

"Ah, by the way," he was a little startled when she started talking but he said nothing, "I found a job."

He looked at her and raised his brows, "Wow, really?"

She chuckled and nodded, "Yes, I'll be working at a bakery."

He smiled, "Good, I'm glad you finally found a job."

She laughed, "Um, me too. Finally I can pay you…"

Ichigo shook his head quickly, "No, that's not what I mean!" he said quickly, "I mean, I'm glad you finally got something to do so you won't get bored!"

Orihime laughed harder, "It's okay! I understand!" She smiled and shook her head, "I was just kidding."

They walked slowly, two more blocks and they'd be home. He really wanted a cup of nice hot chocolate. Maybe they could order some pizza, a celebration for her new job. He grinned at the idea. He really liked her smile and lately he did so many cheesy things unknown to her just to make her smile.

"So," he started again, "what's your new job?"

"Ah, it's a bakery," she sounded so excited. "I will be working at a bakery not too far from your office! It is my former teacher's bakery. I bought some pastries from there today. We can eat them once we're home!" she giggled happily, "You know, I've always wanted to work at a bakery since I was young."

He nodded, "Near to my office?"

"Yes! It's in the same area… Maybe you can bring your friends there? Or tell your students to go there?" Orihime laughed, "Well, I'm just kidding. But I wouldn't mind if you really do it. Hehe…"

Ichigo chuckled. Actually he did secretly plan to visit her sometime but he didn't say anything. They walked without saying anything anymore after that. His hand still held hers. She wasn't sure if he realized that he was still holding her hand but she decided not to tell him about it. She loved it anyway. She wished that their way home could be longer.

* * *

The black haired man stared at the older man with a cold look. He folded his arms on his chest, watching the other man who sat in front of him sipping his tea. His green eyes were cold and his lips formed a thin line. If a look could kill someone, the brown haired man would have been dead by now.

Smiling gently, the older man put his cup onto the table between them.

"Why are you looking at me like that?"

"Why are you hiring her?"

Aizen chuckled at his straightforward reply, "Well, she needs a job, and we need someone to replace Sakurai."

Though he was annoyed by his employer, the green eyed young man kept his stoic face. He took a sip of his black coffee without saying anything. He could hear Aizen chuckle again but he said nothing.

"Isn't it a good thing to see her again?"

Ulquiorra didn't say anything. He respected Aizen so much but sometimes he couldn't help but to think that the older man was really annoying. It was not about whether or not he wanted to see her, because he did want to see her. The problem was, he didn't know how to act around her or how she'd act around him. It'd be awkward.

"It will be awkward indeed," Aizen had always been like that, it was like he could read what was on his mind, "but this is your chance."

Ulquiorra rested his chin on one hand, looking bored, "For what?"

"Well," Aizen smiled, "you need to apologize properly to her."

The younger man almost snorted, "Don't play cupid."

He laughed.

* * *

"Yuzu! Hurry up!"

"Y-yes! Wait, I'm packing the salad!"

Karin sighed and rested her back on the seat. Her twin sister was making so much food that it took almost forever to pack it up. Some of the food was already in the car, and now they were waiting for Yuzu to come with the last packages. About five minutes later the young girl opened the door to the passenger seat and put the boxes of food on the seat next to her seat. Karin who sat on the navigator seat raised an eyebrow when she saw so many boxes of food on the back seat.

"You gotta be kidding!" she hissed, "We can't eat all those!"

Yuzu huffed as she closed the door, "We can, we can… Don't worry about it. Niichan lives alone, he must not have been eating properly and missed these foods."

Karin rolled her eyes, "Oh whatever."

"Okay, that's all?" the man who sat in the driver's seat turned to check on things.

"Yes, Dad!"

"Good!" he grinned excitedly, "here we go!" He started the engine with a huge smile plastered on his face.

When they started moving slowly, Karin sighed, "Are you sure we didn't have to call first? Niichan might not be home right now."

Isshin laughed, "Don't worry, he's a shut in nerd and he has no girlfriend to go dating with. I'm sure he's home." He looked at his daughter and grinned again, "He's home, don't worry."

From the back seat, Yuzu squealed happily, "Aaaah, I can't wait to see Niichan! It's been so long!"

Karin frowned, "It's just been a month since his last visit. It's not that long." Yuzu didn't seem to hear what she said but she continued, "He just called last week and he said he was rather busy, maybe he means he didn't want us to interrupt him."

"He'll be happy to see us, don't worry." Isshin said proudly, "He might cry when he sees us considering how we care about him. He looked at his other daughter through the mirror, "He will be happy to see the foods Yuzu has made for him."

Karin rolled her eyes and looked outside the window as the car started leaving the houses area. She frowned as the raindrops hit the window, "You know, maybe he is with his girlfriend right now, we should not bother him."

Yuzu and Isshin laughed when hearing that.

"Niichan doesn't have a girlfriend!"

"Yeah, it's your brother, Ichigo! I don't think he is popular enough to get a girlfriend."

Karin just rolled her eyes once again.

* * *

"ATCHOOOOO!"

"Are you okay?"

Orihime looked at the sneezing guy worriedly. Ichigo rubbed his nose and shook his head. They were looking at the pamphlets of food delivery services when he sneezed. They hadn't decided what to order for dinner. He thought pizza or ramen would be good.

"Nah, maybe someone was talking about me," he growled as he reached for another sheet. He was really hungry but he couldn't decide what to eat, "do you have something in your mind for dinner?"

Orihime bit her lip and shook her head, "I don't know, these all seem good to me..."

Ichigo nodded. He understood that. He also couldn't decide between meat-lover's pizza or eel ramen.

"What do you think about ramen?"

Orihime was about to answer when someone knocked on the front door, almost banging on it.

"Tsk," Ichigo was ready to stand up but Orihime stood first and ran to the front door. Somehow, he got a bad feeling about it, "W-wait! Let me open it!"

Orihime stopped and turned to see the orange head, she tilted her head confusedly, "Eh?"

Ichigo stood up hurrily and walked to the front door. Orihime stood not far behind him, confused by the way he acted. Ichigo grunted as he opened the door. He didn't expect any guests tonight so whoever these people behind the door were, they'd better have a pretty good reason to disturb his private time. He opened the door angrily.

"Good evening Ichigo!"

He froze.

His family was grinning at him—except for Karin who only smirked at him. He did not expect his family to come. They did not call him or anything. In a second his brain stopped working. This wasn't good at all.

"Ichigo-kun, are you okay?"

To his horror, Orihime walked to his side and looked at him concernedly.

"I-I am okay, Orihime..." he managed to turn to the auburn head.

A meter from him, three jaws dropped to the cold floor.


	11. Chapter 11

Disc: I don't own BLEACH and LONG VACATION

Note: this fanfic is inspired from a J-Dorama, Long Vacation starred by Kimura Takuya of SMAP. Enjoy!

_Thought/Past_

Present.

.

**-Love Story-**

11.

There were five persons in the not-so-big living room of Ichigo's apartment. Four Kurosakis and one Inoue sat around the low table in the living room. The table was full of food courtesy of one of the Kurosaki twins. None of them had touched the food. They had just finished talking—more like Ichigo finished explaining while the rest of them listened to his story—and now, the oldest son of the family waited for the reaction. Note, he had been prepared for the worst.

The oldest Kurosaki sighed. Oddly, it sounded like he was sobbing. Ichigo scowled at his father who looked at the young woman who sat next to him with teary eyes. He slapped his forehead mentally. His father would do or say something that would embarrass him, he could sense that.

"Oh, poor Orihime-chan…" Ichigo narrowed his eyes at the way his father called the girl. He had the nerve to call the young lady he had just met that night by her given name. That sounded rude, but hey, this was his father, what could he expect from a father who often slipped some condoms into his son's wallet?

Orihime smiled shyly. She looked at Ichigo from the corner of her eyes, he knew she didn't know how to react toward the old man's antics.

"So, you don't have any money left in the bank and you don't have any job, because of that stupid fiancé of yours?" Now the dark haired man sobbed, he bit his handkerchief and started sobbing, making his children slap themselves mentally for having a father like him, "You have no choice but to live with Ichigo?"

Orihime nodded, still a little shy about the situation. "You could say so, ah, but I've found a job today!" she added cheerfully, "Someone I knew said I could work in his bakery. So, now I can save money to pay Kurosaki-kun…"

"I've told you it's not a big deal!" Ichigo was frowning.

The cheerful woman smiled, "I know… But I cannot just become a freeloader here, Kurosaki-kun. You've help me a lot by letting me stay here!"

"So, Inoue-san," it was one of the twins, the black haired one, "are you sure it's okay to live with Nii-chan?"

"Oi Karin!" Ichigo warned his sister.

Karin looked at her brother while crossing her arms, "What I mean is, though my brother is stupid," she ignored the warning look sent by her dearest brother, "he's still a man. You know, he might attack you. After all, you're so beautiful and defenseless."

Both Ichigo and Orihime blushed. Both of them had the same memory playing in their mind at that moment and both of them tried to shove the memory away from their brain. That was not the right time to remember what had happened between them that night.

"Ah, Kurosaki-kun isn't like that," Orihime giggled nervously. "Besides, I am not defenseless. My friend used to teach me karate. I am a black belt now."

Four pairs of Kurosaki eyes looked at her in disbelief. She had no image of a girl who mastered karate. They didn't expect her to be a black belt, especially Ichigo. This was the first time he had heard about this from her.

"That's cool!" Yuzu clasped her hands together, it seemed like she couldn't take her eyes from Orihime since the beginning. Ichigo could tell that Yuzu liked Orihime. She had always wanted a big sister and apparently Orihime had the perfect big sister image in her mind. "You are so cool, Inoue-sama!"

Karin and Ichigo choked at the way their sister called Orihime. It was official now—Yuzu Kurosaki had become Orihime's fan.

"So, you haven't heard anything from your fiancé at all?" Ichigo's father, however, decided that that was the right moment to bring up the topic. Ichigo, however disagreed. He glared at the old man. Why would he bring it up? Didn't he know that he might hurt Orihime's feelings?

Ichigo was relieved though when Orihime smiled gently and shook her head.

"He had a girlfriend and I hope, wherever he is now, he's happy with her."

"How noble…" Yuzu praised Orihime with teary eyes, "You're strong, Inoue-sama!"

"Stop talking about that!" Ichigo decided that he had to cut anything his stupid father was about to say. He didn't need his father to say anything embarrassing or stupid to Orihime. "Now you know each other and the reason why Inoue stays with me. Let's stop talking. I am so hungry, let's eat!"

Karin agreed with her brother this time, "Yeah, I'm starving!"

"Okay, Itadakimaaaaasu!"

"Inoue-sama, let me fill your bowl with rice!"

"Yuuuuzuuu how about father?"

"You can do it yourself, old man!"

"Kariiiin, why are you so cold?"

"You're too loud, old man."

"Kurosaki-san, let me fill your bowl."

"Orihime-chan… My daughter!"

"She's not! Geeezz, Dad!"

When they had finished their dinner, the girls were doing the dishes in the kitchen while the men sat on the couch, watching some re-run baseball tournament on television. They were not really watching it though.

"She's a nice girl."

Ichigo kind of knew where this was going but he managed to answer his father with a low, "Hnn."

"She's really pretty too."

Ichigo grunted again. He half hoped that his father would just get to the point because he actually knew what he wanted to say.

The doctor looked at the kitchen and smiled at the sight of three girls doing the dishes. "Seeing her standing there with Yuzu and Karin reminds me of your mother. Don't you think she kind of looks like her?"

Ichigo groaned this time. "She's too young for you Dad."

"Stupid!" Isshin laughed, "Not for me, for you!"

Ichigo scowled, he knew it. His father just couldn't accept the fact that he didn't have any interest toward girls. No, it wasn't like that though, he was not gay. To say it better, he wasn't interested with any kind of relationship.

"You heard her, she had a fiancé." 

Isshin imitated his scowl, "In the past tense, right?"

Ichigo sighed. He knew once his father had started this topic, it would be difficult to run away from it. "Maybe she still has some feelings for him."

"So what? You can try!"

"Dad, stop it."

"Why, you don't like her?"

Ichigo didn't answer that. He just shook his head. His father was about to open his mouth to say something else when his twin angels came back from the kitchen. He turned and smiled at the girls.

"You finished?"

Karin shook her head, "Nope, but Inoue-san asked us to leave the rest to her."

Yuzu sat on the empty space beside her brother. Ichigo looked at the younger girl and smiled back at the girl when she smiled at him.

"Inoue-sama is really nice."

Ichigo nodded, "She is."

"I like her!"

Ichigo smiled.

Ichigo realized that there was no space left for Karin to sit on the couch. He stood up and pointed at the now empty space to the tomboy girl, "You can sit there Karin."

"Thanks."

Ichigo didn't say anything as he walked to the kitchen, where the older girl was doing the dishes. The tomboy girl walked around the couch to sit between her father and Yuzu, where her brother had been sitting. She frowned when she saw her brother, who was in the kitchen now, was offering some help to the girl. She couldn't hear them but she could see that Orihime refused him but he insisted and she gave up.

The other two Kurosakis were actually also watching them. They watched as Ichigo now started to help Orihime to wash the plates.

"They look like newlyweds." Karin commented.

"They do! They do!" Yuzu responded eagerly.

"You're right." Isshin grinned ear to ear while watching his son and his future daughter-in-law interacting in the kitchen. "I have a good feeling about this."

* * *

"Aaaah, the food was so delicious! Yuzu-chan is a great cook!"

Once the uninvited guests had left the house, Ichigo and Orihime sat on the couch in the living room. Ichigo had the usual scowl on his face but somehow he looked relaxed.

"Yes, Yuzu does most of the housework since my mother passed away."

Orihime smiled sweetly, "She will be an amazing wife."

Ichigo frowned at the thought of his sisters getting married. They were too young to get married. True, they wouldn't stay young forever, but still, he wasn't ready to see any of them getting married.

"Your family's awesome," Orihime said sincerely.

"Thanks," he muttered. He didn't know why, but he was glad that she didn't think that his family was weird.

"Karin-chan reminded me of you." Orihime giggled, "She's a female version of you."

Ichigo smiled, "Many people would agree with you."

She smiled again, "And your father is funny."

"And weird."

Orihime laughed, she didn't deny that thought. "He's an awesome Dad."

Ichigo snorted, "Really? That's new to me."

Orihime grinned, "He's funny."

"I agree with that one." Ichigo rested his back and stiffened a little when he felt her shoulder brushed his.

He looked at her, pretending to be a tough guy, though his heart was pounding madly as she hugged her knees and rested her head on his shoulder. He wondered if she realized what she was doing. Maybe not, because if she did then she would be as embarrassed as he was. He felt nervous and a little uncomfortable by the situation, but he didn't say anything.

Okay, he needed to calm down. He meant, _down!_

They stayed like that for few minutes. Nobody said anything and it was kind of awkward for Ichigo, though Orihime didn't seem to be bothered by the silence and situation. Ichigo, however, didn't like the silence because by chance, she might hear his pounding heart.

"I think my family likes you," Ichigo counted to ten in his head.

"Really!" Finally she moved away a little from him. She smiled beautifully and strangely, though he was glad he didn't have to suffer a heart attack from her leaning on him, he kind of missed her warmth. "I'm so happy."

Ichigo smirked, of course his family would like her, who wouldn't?

"By the way," Orihime glanced at the digital clock on the table nearby, "I think I should go to sleep early today. I don't want to be late on my first day working."

Ichigo nodded. As much as he still wanted to talk to her, or rather to listen to her, he was actually kind of sleepy too. After exchanging good nights both orange heads headed to their rooms.

* * *

'_Dear Orihime,_

_I know you need money right now, but are you sure you're going to work there? I mean, Aizen-sensei is fine, though he gave me that kind of weird feeling back then in high school but I know he's nice to you. I mean, Ulquiorra Schiffer. _

_Won't it be awkward?_

_Plus, you know, you might fall for him again._

_Just in case, you're not ready for love Hime._

_First you need to learn how to judge someone before you fall for them. I don't blame you, though it would be nice if you learned to be careful. And that man you're living with… Rukia said he's hot (though she also said that he wasn't friendly). I hope you're not falling for him._

_Don't do anything stupid._

_Ps. Change your email address already!_

_Ps.S. I will be going back to Japan next month, yay?_

_Tatsuki._


	12. Chapter 12

Disc: I don't own BLEACH and LONG VACATION

Note: this fanfic is inspired from a J-Dorama, Long Vacation starred by Kimura Takuya of SMAP. Enjoy!

_Thought/Past_

Present.

.

**-Love Story-**

12

**.**

**.**

12**.**

Ichigo Kurosaki frowned as he staring at a sheet of paper in his hand. Next to him, a beautiful young lady smiled at him, waiting for his response. The berry guy scowled. Nell had just given the paper to him and made him read it. 

"A national piano competition?"

"Yes," Nell nodded. She giggled sweetly, "I thought you might be interested in entering? After all you're really talented."

Ichigo sighed. True he loved piano but he had never entered any competition before. He didn't know if he was good enough for a competition, let alone a national competition. He appreciated Nell who let him know about it though.

"Nah..." he gave the sheet back to the girl, "I am not that good."

"No, you're really good!"

She followed him who continued walking to his office. She had just stopped him in the corridor when he finished his class.

"Listen to me, the first and runner up winner would have a chance to study abroad!"

Ichigo did want to study piano overseas but he had no money. He had two younger sisters and he had to think about their education first...

"It's going to be full scholarship."

Ichigo stopped.

He looked at the girl, "Really?"

She grinned and nodded, "Yes."

He thought for few seconds. That was not a bad idea though. After all, he had nothing to lose. He had always wanted to have a scholarship to study piano overseas, be it in Vienna or France—somewhere in Europe. He had also practiced his English in case he could study there. Now, he got a chance to make his dream came true.

Nell had known this guy for three years and had secretly had a crush on him for at least two years. From the look he had on his face now, she knew he was interested. She was happy. She wanted to make him happy and she knew he would be happy if he could achieve his dream.

"So?" She knew the answer though.

Ichigo shrugged , "I will think about it."

For Nell, although he didn't say yes—coming from Ichigo Kurosaki's mouth—that was as good as yes. She smiled and nodded, "Okay, there's still four months before the competition, you still have time to think about it, though I do think this is a golden chance to win the ticket to study overseas for you."

Ichigo smirked. Of course, though he could see the pretty blush on her cheeks, he wasn't aware of her feelings for him.

"Thanks Nell!" He grinned and continue walking to his room.

This competition was not a bad idea at all.

.

"So…"

"So?"

"This is melon bread."

"I know, you've said that."

"I'm just making sure to make you remember."

"Of course I remember!"

The green eyes met the pretty gray eyes.

He rolled his eyes, "Good then." He looked away from her and walked, "Now let's move to the next tray."

Orihime stomped her feet and humph-ed. It has been twenty minutes since he started teaching her about the bread's names and prices and everything, but during those twenty minutes he had mentioned melon pan for like… six times! She knew he tried to annoy her.

"So, this is anpan…"

"Ulquiorra-kun!" cut in Orihime.

He paused and turned, "What?"

The beautiful girl was wearing an apron and kerchief on her hair to keep her fringe away from her face. She folded her arms and furrowed her brows. This was her 'serious mode: on' pose. He knew that she did it to make herself looked intimidating. He never told her that it wasn't working though because secretly, he likes that pose.

"I know you want to say something."

He kept his poker face, "Oh yeah, what?"

Orihime pouted, she remembered very well how difficult this man was to understand back then in high school. She had hard times with him but they had been together for years and dating for almost a year. Now, he couldn't fool her with his poker face. She looked into his expressionless green eyes. He was as pale as ever, she realized.

"You wanted to apologize."

"Oh yeah?"

Orihime nodded, "Just say it already, and I will—maybe—forgive you," she added while crossing her arms, "how many years do you think it has been since it happened?"

Ulquiorra turned around and walked to the kitchen. He hadn't said anything yet and she wasn't satisfied by his reaction. She followed him. She knew Aizen had told him to apologize to her anyway and she was eager to hear that. Honestly, she was not angry or upset anymore but an apology from him would be nice to hear. After all, what he had done that time was quite hurtful to her. She had been traumatized, actually.

There was no one in the kitchen. Aizen had a meeting with his ex-wife and would be back after lunch. He stopped near the table in the center of the kitchen and turned to see her. She stopped and put her hands on her hips.

"So?"

"So what, woman?"

"Aizen told you to apologize, didn't he?"

"He did."

"Then?"

She waited for few seconds. She had to admit that he was still looking as good as ever. His dark hair was a little longer now but nothing else had changed. The way he treated her hadn't changed either.

"I did not do anything wrong to you."

Orihime stomped her foot, "You kissed someone else!"

He shook his head, "Someone else kissed me."

"Okay, but it's still the same! We were dating but you're… You're…" she tried to say the word but it was difficult. She was struggling to say the word but, though he knew what she was going to say, he stood there calmly—one hand on the table—waiting for her to say the word, "You're gay!"

.

"So, your family finally met her."

The trio was walking out of the building. They had one hour for lunch and they decided to go to a new ramen house nearby. Ishida heard the ramen they sold there was good.

"Yeah," Ichigo grunted, he walked in the middle between a tall Mexican and a glasses-wearing man. "I didn't plan to introduce her to them yet actually. You know my family."

"Your family is fine," Ishida smirked, "It's your dad."

Ichigo nodded, "Yeah, but thank God he didn't do something too weird to her."

"Do they get along?" asked the brown haired man.

"I didn't expect it but they do get along really well," Ichigo remembered how Yuzu squealed happily when Orihime said she should dropped by at her work place, "Yuzu likes her. She called her 'Inoue-sama'."

Ishida chuckled.

Ichigo didn't like how the glasses man seemed like he was laughing at him. He knew whatever Ishida had in his mind, he wouldn't like it.

"What is it?" he asked the black haired man.

"Nothing."

Ichigo shot him a disbelieving look.

Ishida sighed and kept walking without looking at the taller man, "Well, honestly, I was thinking," he never stopped thinking, did he?, "that if I didn't know better, I would think you were talking about your girlfriend meeting your family."

Ichigo's face went redder than his hair and when he heard Chad chuckle, he wanted to strangle Ishida. He knew the man was not stupid, he might catch some hint. He did have a little crush on Orihime but he had promised her, so he tried not to make the not-so-innocent crush into love. He never told anyone about this but for some reason, he knew that Ishida was more observant than most people.

"You're red, Kurosaki."

"Shut up, four eyes!"

"Ah,"

"What is it Chad?"

The tall man had stopped a few steps behind the other two. Ichigo and Ishida stopped too and looked at the way Chad was looking at.

"Impossible…" Ichigo couldn't believe what he saw.

Not far in front of them, he could see the ramen house where they had planned to have lunch. He had heard about how famous the new restaurant was after it appeared in a magazine but he didn't expect that so many people had the same idea to have lunch there, just like them. In front of the restaurant, there were so many people queuing.

"We have…" Ishida looked at his watch, "Forty five minutes left." He looked at Ichigo, as usual they left him to decide—no matter how many times they called him stupid, well Ishida did—they would still ask him to make the decision, "what do you think?"

Ichigo folded his arms, "Nah, can't you see the line? We wouldn't make it back to office on time."

Chad nodded, "Maybe we should find some other place to eat."

"What? Fast food?"

Ichigo didn't hate fast food but he knew Ishida, just like how he appeared, didn't really like fast food. Suddenly, an idea came into his head. He wasn't sure though whether it was a good idea or not.

"Say, do you guys like breads?"

.

"Ulquiorra Schifer?"

Rukia sighed, Tatsuki called her during her lunch break only to talk about their friend, Orihime Inoue, who had a new job and had started her job today. They had heard about her new job and both of them worried about her. After all, that guy was there.

"Yeah, what do you think about him?"

Rukia thought about the question. She was in the same high school with Tatsuki and Orihime but she hadn't been close with them back then. She knew about Ulquiorra Schifer though. When she heard that the school's idol dated the infamous emo guy, she couldn't believe her ears. She heard rumors about Ulquiorra and she thought he was a dangerous person. When she got closer with Orihime and Tatsuki in University and learned the reason they broke up, she was surprised. He knew Ulquiorra was weird but she never had any idea that the guy was actually gay.

"I don't know," Rukia answered truthfully, "you tell me."

She heard Tatsuki sigh, "Well, I don't like him."

Rukia nodded though she knew Tatsuki couldn't see her, "I understand that."

"But," the short haired girl sighed again, "I think he really loved Hime."

Rukia frowned, "He is gay."

"I know…" Tatsuki chuckled, "I just had a feeling that he really loved her, I didn't understand why though. I didn't like when she decided to date him but I was surprised when they broke up and when she told me the reason."

Rukia laughed, "Maybe he is bi."

.

"Ichigo-kun!"

Ichigo smirked as he entered the bakery, his two friends followed him from behind. When she saw Ishida and Chad, Orihime smiled widely and waved her hand cheerfully. Chad nodded and Ishida smiled politely.

"Welcome!" Orihime said cheerfully, "Ishida-kun, Sado-kun!"

Ichigo walked to the counter where Orihime stood, his two friends were smart enough not to interfere. Ishida had his eyes to some homemade Pizza while Chad had decided that he would buy some cute cupcakes with colorful sugary topping.

"It looks like a nice place," Ichigo looked around the shop, the walls were painted with soft pastel colors with white decoration, "and uh, nice uniform too."

"I know right!" Orihime chuckled, "And the cakes are nice too!" She leaned to whisper to him, "The melon bread is a little smaller than the other bakeries though, but it tastes so much better!"

Ichigo nodded, "Oh, okay… I will buy some melon breads then…"

Orihime was really happy. She didn't expect Ichigo would come bringing his friends on the first day she works here. She knew that Ichigo was not her boyfriend and maybe he would never be one, but sometimes the way he treated her made her think that it would be nice if she had him as her boyfriend.

"So, where're the other employees?"

"In the kitchen," Orihime used her thumb to point the kitchen. "My mission here is to take care of the customers."

Ichigo couldn't hide his chuckle. She had a pretty weird choice of words but it was cute.

The kitchen's door was opened and a man with pale skin walked into the shop with a big tray of fresh-from-the-oven chocolate chip cookies. Ichigo looked at the man, who looked at him with a poker face. He ignored the red head and walked to put the cookies on display.

"You know, Woman," the black haired man didn't call her by her name but Ichigo knew he was talking to the auburn haired woman. Ichigo decided that he disliked the way he called her, "You're supposed to take care of the customers, not to talk to some stranger who didn't buy anything."

Ichigo growled at the rude words. He wanted to protest about how that man treated the customer. Well, Ichigo himself wasn't the friendliest guy in this world, but at least if he worked in a bakery he knew he would be less rude toward the customer. Little did he know that that the man rude to him on purpose.

* * *

**_Author's Note:_**

I think I am being obvious for you who have read my other fics: I am a big fan of Ulquiorra. I have fun writting about his interaction with Hime. If it were in an alternate universe and Ichigo weren't there I would love to see Hime and Ulquiorra together. But of course it's only IF Ichigo weren't in the picture. (Sadly for Ulquiorra, Ichigo is always in the picture).

I update this chapter faster than usual but to tell you the truth, I don't really like this chapter. I hope I can make a better chapter next time. For now, I hope this is not too disappointing for you.


	13. Chapter 13

-Love Story-

13

.

.

.

"I am really sorry, Ulquiorra-kun was really rude to you today!"

"No, you didn't do anything wrong. You don't have to apologize to me. It wasn't your fault."

Their dinner tonight was pasta. Orihime made it for them. She did add some unusual spices but after living together with the girl these past few months, Ichigo could eat the food without getting food poisoning or feeling sick. Secretly, he was amazed of the ability of humans to adapt. He started to like her food—of course he would stay away from the eccentric ones like rice with chocolate topping or curry with strawberry jam... But pasta with miso topping actually tasted good.

Today when Ichigo and his friends came to the bakery where Orihime worked, one of Orihime's co-workers had been rude to him. Not only once but twice. He didn't understand why it seemed like that black-haired pale guy had been trying to pick a fight with him. He was so thin and Ichigo knew he could beat him easily if he wanted to, but of course he didn't want to cause Orihime trouble in her work place.

He didn't tell her that that emo guy called him a 'jerk' under his breath when Orihime looked away. He didn't understand why he deserved such an ill treatment from a stranger like him. He had never met him before but it was like he had been declaring war to him. Maybe that guy was...

"Hey Kurosaki-kun, are you listening?"

"Ah," Ichigo blinked, he hadn't realized that the girl in front of him was talking to him, "could you repeat that?"

Orihime huffed, "are you okay, Kurosaki-kun? You looked distracted. Ah... are you still thinking about Ulquiorra-kun?"

Ichigo shook his head, "ah, not really..."

Orihime smiled, she looked at her half-empty plate, "Don't worry, Kurosaki-kun, Ulquiorra-kun didn't mean anything bad. He may be weird, but he is not a bad guy..."

Ichigo scowled. It was weird how Orihime seemed to know quite a lot about the guy. Plus, she called him by his first name. Well, it was true they were working together, but he and her were living together and she only called him 'Ichigo-kun' in front of his friends.

"By the way, you said the owner is your ex-teacher?"

Orihime who was continuing eating her pasta nodded, "He was only a substitute teacher though."

"Could it be... You also know this Ulquiorra since high school?"

Orihime blushed.

Ichigo had a bad feeling about this.

She bit her lower lip and avoided his eyes, "Well, he's my ex-boyfriend."

.

That night Ichigo couldn't sleep. He was just laying on his bed with his eyes wide open. He wasn't sleepy at all. It was weird that such a simple word from a girl could make him feel like this. He was restless, the words she had said to him earlier were stuck in his head.

Okay that guy was her ex-boyfriend. So what?

He shouldn't feel this way anyway. Orihime and he weren't dating or anything. She didn't even know about his growing affection toward her. Plus, there was that promise she made him agree to about not falling in love with her.

Thinking about that promise made him even crazier.

He closed his eyes for few seconds only to open them again with a realization that it was impossible to force himself to sleep. He wouldn't be able to sleep. Luckily, tomorrow was his off day so even if he couldn't sleep tonight, he could sleep the whole day tomorrow.

Ichigo sat up and groaned. How he hated himself at times like these. He never really thought about stuff like this. Romance was never his thing. This girl, however, had managed to make him half crazy just by the fact that she had an ex-boyfriend.

_You didn't act like this about Grimmjow, King. _His other self sneered at him.

He growled, "But Grimmjow isn't working with her. Besides..."

There was something different about Ulquiorra. The way he treated him earlier today... Ichigo was stupid but not that stupid. He knew it, the way that thin man treated him was like treating an enemy. Maybe he thought of him as a threat. It was crystal clear to Ichigo that Ulquiorra Schiffer was still harboring feelings for his housemate.

He didn't know about Orihime's feelings, but he knew Orihime didn't want to be in another relationship at this moment. It meant he shouldn't worry about this Ulquiorra guy, but still...

How did they know each other?

Why did they break up?

There were so many questions in his head. He laid back on his bed and stared at his ceiling.

"Does she still like him?"

His other self laughed in his head.

_You're so out of character, King._

"Shut up."

.

"Morning, Kurosaki-kun..."

Orihime was a little surprised when she entered the kitchen this morning and saw the orange-haired guy was standing there making some french toast for breakfast. It was Sunday, his day off. Usually, he would sleep until later that day. Ichigo only had one day off in the week so he would always treasure it and used it wisely to rest. Orihime found it was weird because it was not yet eight in the morning, but he was already awake and preparing breakfast.

She didn't know that actually, the tall guy didn't sleep at all, and she was the one to blame.

Ichigo turned to see the girl and smiled. His eyes were kind of red and he looked a little pale. He rubbed the back of his head and brought the french toast plates to the living room to eat there.

"Morning, Inoue, let's have breakfast." He yawned as he sat on the carpeted floor in front of the low table. "I hope you don't mind french toast." He put down both plates on the table, "could you bring me the orange juice?"

"Okay," Orihime chirped.

She walked to the refrigerator and took out a carton of orange juice and poured it into two glasses. Behind her, Ichigo was looking at her back, scowling as usual. He quickly turned away. Thankfully, the girl didn't realize his rather weird behavior this morning.

She put the glasses on the table and sat in front of him.

"You woke up early today."

Ichigo shrugged, "I guess, it's not bad for once in a while."

Orihime giggled and nodded, "Yeah, true..." She put a lot of butter on her toast. They'd run out of red bean paste so she had to have normal breakfast today, "but it looks like you didn't have enough sleep."

"I was reading a book," he lied.

He didn't think it was necessary to lie to her but he couldn't stop himself.

"Oh yeah? You like to read? I didn't know..."

"I love to read," he said. This time he wasn't lying to her. He didn't look like it, but actually he loved to read books.

Orihime bit her toast, munched and swallowed.

"What kind of books?"

"Uh, novels."

Orihime eyes widened, "Kurosaki-kun reads novels? What kind of novels?"

"Uh, rr-ro," he blushed, "romance."

_You're so lame, King... This is embarrassing—Romance?_

Ichigo kicked his other self mentally.

But to his delight, Orihime didn't laugh, she only nodded.

"You didn't find that funny?"

"What?"

"About, uh, me reading a romantic novel?"

Orihime smiled, "What's funny about it?"

She was so beautiful.

His other self agreed with him about this. She was beautiful when she was smiling. To think that some guys had ever monopolized this smile for themselves somehow pissed him off. He wanted her for himself only. He didn't want her to show that ultra beautiful smile to anyone but him.

Before he realized it, he had leaned in toward her and kissed her lips.

No alcohol this time.

.

"So you met him?"

Both men didn't plan it, but this morning apparently they both had the same idea about having breakfast in a famous cafe near the bakery. They still had one hour and they decided, or rather Aizen decided, to have the meal together before they went to work together.

Ulquiorra didn't answer. He stirred his coffee without saying anything.

Aizen smiled. Not many people know about this, but Ulquiorra and him were related by blood. Ulquiorra's parents who were killed in a car accident when he was nine were Aizen's dad's cousins. After the accident, he lived with the Aizens. Of course, because of their age gap and different family name, people didn't know about this.

Aizen had thought of Ulquiorra like a little brother since he was the only son in the family. Ulquiorra, on the other hand, thought of Aizen as a God. He had always had this adoration toward the older guy. He didn't open up to anyone but Aizen. Aizen could read him like a book, sometimes this annoyed him so much. He adored this man but there were times when the man would say something that was like pouring salt onto an open wound.

"His name is Ichigo Kurosaki, you don't have to worry though... Well not for now." Aizen smiled again, "they aren't dating."

"I'm afraid, I don't care about it."

"Oh really?"

Ulquiorra didn't answer, he drank his coffee instead.

Aizen sighed, he looked at the guy from behind his glasses. "You should just tell the truth to Orihime. It would help. You know, finally, you have a chance now—you shouldn't blow it off."

"What truth?" Ulquiorra kept his poker face, "I don't want to explain anything. It was her who said that she wanted to break up."

"She didn't have a choice at the time," Aizen smiled. "She had just found out that you're gay and dating another man. What was his name again? Ah, right, Nnoitra, right?"

"You know I am not a gay."

"Well, I think, kissing another man is considered a gay behavior."

"I didn't kiss him," he stated coolly. "He kissed me. There's a difference."

"You let him kiss you, didn't you?"

"He caught me off guard."

"Liar."

"I am not."

"How could you prove that you were not gay and cheating on her with another man?"

"If I kissed you now without your consent, will it make you gay?"

Aizen laughed.

"Ok, you got me there." He smiled kindly and looked at the guy in front of him, "I was just kidding. I know you loved her."

Ulquiorra looked away, "Well, I still do."

.

Ichigo and Orihime looked at each other without saying anything. Both were red like a tomato and frozen. Her mouth was half-opened, she looked at the younger guy and couldn't believe what had just happened. Meanwhile, the culprit also had his mouth half-opened. He tried to say something to justify what he had done just now, but he couldn't find any words.

He wanted to apologize, but he couldn't even let out any sound.

Ten minutes had passed since he had kissed her. He knew, he had to say something. Anything.

He should apologize but he couldn't say that he was sorry for kissing her because he didn't feel like that. He had kissed her and liked it. He didn't want to say that he regretted the kiss.

_Be a man, King._

His stupid imaginary friend who lived inside his head was commenting and for once he agreed with him. He needed to be a man.

_Make her our queen!_

"Inoue, about the kiss," finally he started.

He was trembling but those big grey eyes were looking into his brown eyes—he couldn't step back now.

Now or never.

"I, I think... I love you.

.

TBC


	14. Chapter 14

Disc: I don't own BLEACH and LONG VACATION

Note: this fanfic is inspired from a J-Dorama, Long Vacation starred by Kimura Takuya of SMAP. Enjoy!

_Thought/Past_

Present.

.

.

**-Love Story-**

14

.

No smile.

No smile please.

Ichigo Kurosaki did his best but he failed.

"It's creepy."

"What's creepy?"

"You don't usually smile."

Yeah, he knew it. He also already told himself not to smile. He was known for his deep scowl, not a smile. Even his student called him creepy and he still couldn't stop smiling. He was supposed to get angry when Toushiro called him creepy but he couldn't, he was too happy to be angry. He had this unusual goofy expression on his face and that was indeed a little scary.

"Just focus on your piano," Ichigo said a little too cheerfully, such that it gave his student a chill. "Nothing you say can make me angry right now."

Toushiro raised an eyebrow but continued playing the piano.

"You won't get angry?"

"I can't."

"Really?"

"Really."

Toushiro kept playing the song while thinking about what to say to test him.

"So, you will let me date your sister?"

"No."

Toushiro frowned a little but didn't stop playing.

"I see."

"I said I won't get angry, I didn't say I'd allow Karin to date a brat like you."

He was smiling when he said that and it made Toushiro shiver.

.

Uryu and Chad could see it clearly. He hadn't said anything but both musicians could already guess what had happened to their orange haired friend. Chad found that it was amusing and Ishida thought it was really disgusting to see the usually scowling man smiling. It was during their lunch time when Ishida decided that he needed to say something.

"You know, you look like an idiot right now, Kurosaki."

"Oh yeah?"

"You're smiling like an idiot."

Ichigo shrugged, "Whatever."

Uryu furrowed his brows and folded his arms, "So," he tried again, "did something good happen?"

Ichigo blushed a little but he tried to act casually, "Not really."

Uryu didn't believe him of course. He and Chad knew that this must be about a certain auburn haired girl with a beautiful smile. The black haired man hated to admit it, but he really wanted to know what had actually happened between Ichigo and the girl who lived with him. It must be something good because a smiling Ichigo wasn't something you could see daily.

Well, they had had sex together so this time, maybe they...

Uryu had so many probabilities in his head right now. He just needed a confirmation from the strawberry.

"Well actually..."

Uryu was surprised because he didn't need to do anything to actually make Ichigo tell them about it. He waited patiently for the taller guy to continue what he had started. He tried not to give him a nasty comment about the faint blush on his cheeks, he could tease him later, after he told him the complete story.

"Me and O... Orihime are going out."

That was not unpredictable, but Uryu was a little surprised. Actually he was guessing a kiss or something like that. He had never thought that a girl like Orihime would actually agree to date a guy like Ichigo Kurosaki. He didn't know that Ichigo had the guts to ask her out too.

"Congratulations!" Chad patted Ichigo's shoulder and smiled.

Ichigo smirked, "Thank you!"

"So, you love her?"

Ichigo frowned, "I do!"

Uryu shrugged, he had a feeling that this wouldn't be a normal love story, "Good luck."

Ichigo would need that.

.

Orihime hadn't talked to Ulquiorra at all today. Well it wasn't like he had tried to talk to her either though, but Orihime did ignore the green eyed man. Ulquiorra of course didn't look like he was bothered at all. Though he actually could guess the reason why she had tried to avoid him today. He knew that she was angry and upset at him. He didn't think that he had done anything wrong though so he wouldn't apologize to her.

She was pretending like she couldn't see him, even when he was arranging the bread on the display and standing right beside her. She had decided that she wouldn't talk to him until he apologized for what he had done yesterday.

Aizen who had been watching those two actually knew what had happened, but decided not to say anything.

"You know, maybe you should really apologize to her."

Aizen actually told Ulquiorra when he entered the kitchen with some empty tray in his hands. The shorter man looked at him without saying anything before he turned to walk to the sink.

"You were rude to her friends. That made her upset." Aizen said again, "I really suggest you apologize."

Ulquiorra washed his hands and turned to face the older man, "Why? That's not my fault."

Aizen smiled, "It's about a woman's feelings. With women, it doesn't matter who's at fault. You have to apologize."

Ulquiorra folded his hands and didn't say anything.

"I will call Orihime in, you apologize to her, ok? I will leave you two alone." Aizen said again, "You don't want her to hate you, right?"

Ulquiorra still didn't say anything.

He didn't want her to hate him of course.

.

Ichigo walked out of the building with his usual scowl plastered on his face. Finally he had stopped smiling like an idiot for today. Thanks to Uryu Ishida and his poisonous tongue, now he had many things on his mind.

Ichigo looked at his watch, he had done his work earlier today. Orihime must not be home yet. He wondered if he should go to her work place again.

He wondered how she would react if he picked her up at the bakery.

He had never been in a serious relationship before. He had never been in love either. The first time he had sex with a woman, he couldn't really remember it because he was drunk at the time. He didn't have much experience with women and being in a relationship.

He was happy because Orihime had accepted his feelings. He was so happy that he could smile a whole day without getting tired.

He was happy but he was scared too. He had so little experience and Orihime had almost gotten married once. Not to mention that she was actually older than him. He didn't want to disappoint her with his lack of experience. He hadn't known her for too long but he was sure that he was in love with her. He didn't want to lose her. He had decided that he would be a great boyfriend for her. He wouldn't disappoint her.

_"Orihime was just dumped on her wedding day a few months ago, I think her heart hasn't been healed fully. Maybe she still has some feelings for her ex-fianc__é__. You have to show her that you're serious but you shouldn't force yourself on her either..."_

Ichigo thought about what Uryu had told him earlier today. He knew that his friend was right and that actually made him even more worried. Orihime had never talked about Grimmjow, but it didn't mean she had forgotten about him. Ichigo had been living together with Grimmjow for almost two years before and he knew what kind of man he was. He had to admit that Grimmjow had this manly appeal to him, he could make someone like Orihime agree to marry him...

Now suddenly he really wanted to punch that ungrateful bastard. After managing to make Orihime agree to marry him, he left her for another woman. Not only that, he had taken her money with him too. He couldn't believe that someone could do that to someone as sweet as her.

Well, though he was also one to blame. It was him who had introduced that girl to Grimmjow.

But if he hadn't done that, he wouldn't know Orihime.

.

"What do you want to talk about?"

Orihime walked into the kitchen, pouting to show him that she was actually still angry with him.

He looked at her. She had a faint scowl on her face too. He looked at her face a little longer until he noticed a faint blush started to paint her face.

"What is it?" she said again, embarrassed by the way he looked at her.

Ulquiorra thought for a second. Aizen did ask him to apologize but he didn't tell him what he ought to say. He had never apologized before, he didn't know how to. This wasn't an easy task for him to do. Aizen should have known that he couldn't do this.

He sighed secretly. He just needed to say it, right?

"I'm sorry."

Orihime was surprised but she tried not to show it, "for what?"

"You're upset," he said again, "because of me."

Orihime sighed and shook her head, "I was upset but you should have apologized to Kurosaki-kun, not me. You've been rude to him and his friends."

Ulquiorra blinked.

So this girl really thought that he had been apologizing because he had offended that orange headed guy.

"I won't apologize to him."

Orihime put her hands on her hips, "Oh yeah, why?"

Ulquiorra shook his head, "You got me wrong, woman, I wasn't apologizing for what I said yesterday."

She was confused now.

"Eh? Then?"

He shook his head again, "Forget it."

.

He had been waiting for her for almost thirty minutes when he saw her walking out of the bakery.

Her eyes widened when she saw him but she was smiling and waved her hand before running toward him. He smirked when he saw her expression. She looked surprised but happy seeing him there.

"What are you doing here?"

He smiled, "I'm waiting for you, I think it'll be nice to walk home together," he added while rubbing his nose to hide his embarrassment, "for once in a while..."

She looked happy, "Oh, thank you!"

He was glad that she looked happy to see him.

He took her hand shyly, "Let's go home!"

Orihime nodded, "Right!"

They started walking hand in hand. No one said anything until they reached the station. The train was almost empty when they were on it. They sat side by side without saying anything. He didn't even dare to look at her but their hands were still linked.

He was thinking about how lucky he was when he felt her head on his shoulder.

If only he could stop time.

.

**Author's Note:**

Not my favorite chapter. There are a lot of grammatical errors, sorry. HAPPY NEW YEAR! (edit: january 3rd / Beta'd by Nypsy, thanks!)


End file.
